McIlroy Makes History with Commanding Lead at The Masters

Rory McIlroy has taken a significant step towards retaining his title at The Masters, achieving a historic six-shot lead heading into the weekend at Augusta National. Following his career Grand Slam victory over Justin Rose last year, McIlroy continued his pursuit of further major success with an impressive round-of-the-day 65 on Friday afternoon. McIlroy broke the record for the lowest 36-hole score by a defending champion, moving to 12 under and securing the largest halfway lead in the tournament's history. He is now the firm favorite to join Jack Nicklaus, Sir Nick Faldo, and Tiger Woods as a back-to-back winner of The Masters. McIlroy birdied six of his last seven holes to pull ahead of Sam Burns and former Masters winner Patrick Reed, while Justin Rose and Shane Lowry shared fourth place with Tommy Fleetwood after posting second-round 69s. 'This course allows you to get on a roll,' McIlroy told Sky Sports. 'I didn't expect to birdie six of the last seven holes, but I've always felt that when you're in the zone around here, you can build momentum, and the crowd gets behind you, and you can just keep it going. This afternoon was one of those moments.' Tyrrell Hatton moved into a tied-seventh position with a six-under 66, while Bryson DeChambeau, one of the pre-tournament favorites, missed the cut after triple-bogeying the final hole of his two-over 74. McIlroy held a share of the overnight lead after equaling the second-lowest round by a defending champion at The Masters. He quickly took control of the tournament, firing three consecutive birdies from the second. The defending champion gave the chasing pack hope when he missed a six-foot par save at the fifth, failed to capitalize on the eighth, and started his second nine with a bogey. However, McIlroy briefly found himself level with Reed before reclaiming the solo advantage and sparking another birdie charge with a seven-foot birdie on the iconic 12th hole. He took advantage of the par-five 13th and 15th, just as he did on the opening day, and fired a stunning tee shot to kick-in range at the par-three 16th to move four clear of the pack. Reed bogeyed the last to fall back to six under with Burns, who finished his one-under 71 with three birdies in his last five holes. McIlroy recovered from an errant drive at the 17th to finish just short of the green, where a sensational 30-yard chip-in pulled him further ahead, before a closing eight-foot birdie signed off a memorable Friday in style. The lead matches the same halfway advantage McIlroy held at the 2011 US Open, which he went on to win and claim his maiden major. Every player this century who held a 36-hole buffer of six or more shots has gone on to win. 'I desperately wanted to win here so I could come back every year, and thankfully I was able to do that last year,' McIlroy added. 'So, doing that, when I miss fairways, it's fine. When I miss greens, it's fine. I feel like I'm playing with house money, which is a nice feeling to have. If I can just keep thinking well and making good decisions with whatever is put in front of me, and really just keep putting one foot in front of the other - hopefully do that for the weekend and everything works out.' Only 19 of the 54 players who made it through to the weekend are under-par at the halfway stage, with world No 1 Scottie Scheffler on level-par - and 12 off the pace - after a two-over 74. Can McIlroy defend his title at The Masters? Watch the opening major of the year exclusively live on Sky Sports.