McIlroy Tied with Young After Historic Collapse at The Masters

Rory McIlroy's bid for back-to-back titles at The Masters has been thrown into jeopardy after he squandered a record six-shot lead, leaving him tied with Cameron Young heading into the final round. McIlroy, who began the weekend with the largest 36-hole advantage in tournament history, saw his chances of emulating Jack Nicklaus, Sir Nick Faldo, and Tiger Woods suffer a significant setback on Saturday. The world No 2 made a sluggish start to his third round and dropped three strokes in two holes around Amen Corner, allowing Young to surge into contention with a stunning seven-under 65. McIlroy recovered with consecutive birdies from the 14th but bogeyed his penultimate hole, pulling him back alongside Young on 11 under after a third-round 73. Sam Burns is just a shot off the pace in third, with Shane Lowry, who carded a hole-in-one during his third-round 68, among eight players within four strokes of the lead. McIlroy immediately lost ground with a two-shot swing at the first, making bogey as playing partner Burns posted a birdie-birdie start. Momentum shifted back in McIlroy's favor when he drove the green at the par-four third to set up a two-putt birdie, lifting him four ahead when Reed failed to get up and down from the sand and carded successive bogeys. However, Young closed the gap by reaching the turn in 32 and starting his second nine with a birdie. Young posted back-to-back birdies from the 13th but sent a wedge into the water on his way to a bogey at the par-five 15th, as McIlroy started his second nine with a birdie before finding water with his approach into the par-four 11th. McIlroy followed his first double-bogey of the week with another dropped shot at the par-three 12th, giving Young the outright advantage for the first time when he drained a 25-foot birdie at the 16th to get to 11 under. Burns was also within one until McIlroy birdied from 20 feet at the 14th and two-putted from a similar distance at the next to edge back one ahead. McIlroy safely negotiated the par-three 16th but missed the green from the trees at the par-four next, resulting in a bogey to slip back alongside Young. "I would have wanted to be in a better position going into tomorrow starting with a six-shot lead, but I still have a great chance," McIlroy said. "I'm in the final group, which is exactly where you want to be. I wish I had a little bit more of a cushion, but I'm going to go to the range here and try to figure it out. I'll need to be better tomorrow. I still have a great chance but if I'm going to win tomorrow, I'm going to have to be a little bit better than I was today." Young mixed eight birdies and a lone bogey in his 65, and Burns posted a blemish-free 68 to bolster his hopes of a maiden major. Lowry is just two back after becoming the first player ever to post multiple aces at The Masters. Live coverage of the final round begins at 4:30 pm on Sunday on Sky Sports Golf.