Rory McIlroy has a historic Masters lead and a shot at joining an exclusive club at Augusta – again

By Don Riddell, CNN

Augusta, Georgia (CNN) — It took some time, but Rory McIlroy realized there are more mountains left to conquer.

“Honestly, I felt like the career grand slam was my destination, and I got there, and then I realized it wasn’t the destination,” he told CNN Sports on Tuesday. “You think every time you achieve something or have success that you’ll be happy, but then the goalposts move, and they just keep nudging a little bit further and further out of reach.”

On Thursday, McIlroy embarked on the next leg of a journey to further cement his legacy, opening the defense of his Masters title with an impressive 5-under-par round of 67 for a share of the lead with Sam Burns.

A day later, he took that lead for himself, shooting an even more impressive round of 65 to open up a yawning, record-breaking six stroke lead over the rest of the field.

McIlroy birdied six of the last seven holes on Friday to take the largest halfway lead in the tournament’s storied history. Asked by CNN if he’d have more fun eking out a victory by the skin of his teeth, as he did last year, or potentially running away with it and lapping the field, McIlroy responded with a laugh, “What do you think?” he joked.

“Look, I’ve built up a nice cushion at this point. I guess my mindset is just trying to keep playing well and keeping my foot on the gas,” he said.

Ever since blowing a four-stroke lead on Sunday at the 2011 Masters, McIlroy had endured a nerve-shredding relationship with Augusta National. After securing The Open Championship in 2014, the Masters was the only major that he needed to conclude his quest, but the closer he inched towards golfing immortality, the further away he seemed to be.

His pursuit of a green jacket became a tortured odyssey, which at times seemed destined to end in heartbreak.

Before the Masters last year, he pulled up to the clubhouse for dinner with Justin Rose and agonized over where to park his car – he revealed that he didn’t want the champions attending their annual dinner to see him from the second-floor veranda.

Now, he’s a bona fide member of that club, and his demeanor this week is of a liberated man, no longer shackled by the weight of expectation.

“For the past 17 years, I just could not wait for the tournament to start,” he said, and this year, “I wouldn’t care if the tournament never started,” he joked.

The Northern Irishman is already one of just six players to win all four major tournaments, and he now has to be favored to join only three men who have won back-to-back titles at Augusta National. The agonizing search for the first green jacket is over and now he seems to be making it look like a walk in the park.

Patience is a virtue that helped secure the green jacket in 2025 and it was the story of his round on Thursday, but on Friday he went for it, playing with the kind of youthful swagger that illuminated his earlier career.

Playing in the penultimate group of the day, he birdied three of his first four holes, before dropping a couple of shots by the time he reached Amen Corner; but McIlroy once again stayed calm and found his groove to incredible effect.

He birdied No. 12. Then again on 13. Then 15, 16, 17 and 18.

“I always have felt like if you just keep your patience and you make smart decisions around this golf course, the course will reward you with chances and you can get on these runs,” McIlroy told ESPN after his round.

Standing on the first tee as the defending champion, he admitted that his hand was shaking as he pushed his tee into the ground and he struggled to place the ball on top of it.

“I knew I was feeling it, that’s a good thing,” but there is no longer anything to hold him back.

“I think it’s easier for me to make those swings and not worry about where it goes when I know that I can go to the Champions Locker Room and put my green jacket on and have a Coke Zero at the end of the day,” he said.

McIlroy won’t get carried away after two great rounds of golf, but he could hardly have wished for a better start, his best since a 65 in his ill-fated tournament in 2011.

But the course that has been the stage for his most extreme golfing emotions now feels like home. It’s Augusta that he thinks could yield the most opportunities in his pursuit of additional major titles, the sixth of which might only be two days away.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.