Mark McMahon shares his thoughts from Augusta after a bogey-free 66 from Rory McIlroy on Friday catapulted him right up the leaderboard and into Masters contention.
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00:00Hello and welcome to day three here at Augusta National. Moving day in the first major of the season where Justin Rose has retained his lead at the top of the leaderboard on minus eight.
00:12However, the three-shot advantage he had going into Freddie's play has been cut. He sits just one shot above Bryson DeChambeau on minus seven and just two above Rory McIlroy who shot a bogey-free 66 on Freddie to put himself back in the contention here at the Masters.
00:29He's tied for third of the minute alongside Corey Conner on six under and they'll be in the penultimate group today that tees off at 2.30, 7.30pm back in Northern Ireland so keep an eye out for that there.
00:42It puts Rory back in contention as he goes for that elusive green jacket and it really is a remarkable turnaround. Bird in mind on Thursday, he was down in the dumps after shooting at level par 72 and was tied for 27th, way down the leaderboard and with plenty of work to do.
01:02So how did he get himself back into this position? Well, a chap the sports psychologist Paul Patella helped putting daughter Poppy to bed he said during his press conference yesterday was also a major factor in his ability to reset.
01:17Patience over his first round on Freddie was also a major factor alongside four birdies and an eagle and that definitely helped and it shot him right back in the contention and right back up the leaderboard.
01:30Undoubtedly a shot of his day came at the 13th, his second shot. Rory found himself in the pine straw on the dogleg, par 5, 13th. I heard many people in the crowd as he approached that there second shot, he was no way, he was going to make the green over the water.
01:48However, he had a leap of faith, went for it and despite calling himself an idiot as the ball was mid-flight, the ball landed perfectly on the green and that gave him the perfect opportunity to putt for eagle.
01:59Rory also putt for eagle. Rory also putt the demons he experienced on 15th on Thursday, the hole that led to his unravelling. He recorded double boogie on the 15th on Thursday.
02:11However, Freddie, he recorded the birdie and actually gave him further momentum as his day progressed. The crowds here love him. The fans were joyous whenever he held that there and they will no doubt be cheering him on today as he goes about trying to win that green jacket.
02:31Despite the popularity of him and the emotions that are running here at the minute, Rory isn't letting anything get carried away. He's not getting carried away by himself.
02:42He admitted himself after yesterday's second round that there's still a lot of golf to play, 36 holes and his main focus is on the first hole today to make sure his drive down the first fairway is a solid one and puts him in a good position to mount the challenge.
02:57So yeah, a really interesting day for Rory. He'll be in the penultiple group as I said behind leader Justin Rose and Bryson DeChambeau. They tee off at 2.40 which is 7.40 back home.
03:08Good friend Shane Lowry is in the group before him. He's alongside Matt McCarty on minus 5. They tee off at 2.20 and just before that you've got the ominous figure of Scotty Scheffler.
03:21He's on 5 under at the minute alongside Terrell Hatton. They tee off at 2.10 which is again 7.10 back home in the UK.
03:30So yeah, as I said, a really interesting day ahead. Rory has got the wind in a sail after a superb performance yesterday and fingers crossed he can maintain that today and go into Sunday in a prime position to win that green jacket.
03:45This is Mark McMahon for the newsletter here at Augusta National.