AUGUSTA: Justin Rose clung to a one-stroke lead over Bryson DeChambeau after Friday’s second round of the 89th Masters while Rory McIlroy leaped into contention with a stunning back-nine charge at Augusta National.
Rose, who led by three after 18 holes, made four birdies and three bogeys to shoot 71, leaving the 44-year-old Englishman on eight-under 136 after 36 holes.
“In a great position going into the weekend,” Rose said.
McIlroy, undone by double bogeys on two of the last four holes Thursday, reeled off three birdies and an eagle on the back nine and made a tense five-foot par putt at 18 to shoot a bogey-free six-under par 66 and stand two adrift of Rose.
“I just had to remind myself I was playing well. I couldn’t let two bad holes dictate the 16 good ones,” McIlroy said. “To finish bogey-free for today I felt was really important.”
The four-time major winner from Northern Ireland, who shares third on 138 with Canada’s Corey Conners, would complete a career Grand Slam by winning the Masters and capturing his first major title since 2014.
He has failed in 10 prior bids to complete the Slam by taking the green jacket.
“I have to remind myself I have the experience,” McIlroy said. “Every year I come back to this golf course I feel more and more comfortable. I have to remember 34 of the 36 holes I’ve played have been good stuff.”
DeChambeau, who beat McIlroy in a 72nd-hole battle to capture last year’s US Open, birdied four of the first eight holes then answered a bogey at the par-three 16th with a 19-foot birdie putt at the 17th and made a tricky eight-footer for par at 18 to shoot 68.
“I was just patient. I knew it was going to be a testing windy day,” DeChambeau said. “
The American, who also won the 2020 US Open, said he made a breakthrough in the round.
Top-ranked defending champion Scottie Scheffler, playing in the windiest conditions, had four bogeys and three birdies on the back nine to shoot 71 and share fifth on 139.
Scheffler, who also won the 2022 Masters, is trying to join Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Nick Faldo as the only back-to-back Masters champions.
England’s Tyrrell Hatton, who had five birdies in a nine-hole stretch through 15, moved within one of Rose but three-putt bogeys at 16 and 17 left him on 70 and in the 139 pack with Scheffler, Ireland’s Shane Lowry and American Matt McCarty.
Rose, the 2013 US Open champion, was pleased to be part of a world-class leaderboard.
