AUGUSTA, GEORGIA | And right here we’re.
Rory McIlroy and all that comes with him will arrive at Augusta Nationwide’s first tee Sunday at 2:30 p.m. with a two-stroke lead and 18 holes remaining within the Masters, chasing not only a inexperienced jacket however his personal white whale.
There to satisfy him on the tee might be Bryson DeChambeau and all that comes with him, the vitality, the theatrics and the still-fresh reminiscence of a U.S. Open victory 10 months in the past at Pinehurst that despatched McIlroy driving away heartbroken after maybe probably the most painful near-miss in a profession speckled with them.
At a spot the place the implausible appears to generally float within the air, a spectacular Saturday felt like a prelude to a Sunday that might hardly arrive rapidly sufficient.
McIlroy, who on Saturday turned the primary participant in Masters historical past to start out his spherical with six consecutive 3s, is aware of higher than anybody the chance he has on Sunday.
He can change into the sixth participant to finish the profession Grand Slam, shut the door on the endlessly looping narrative about his failure to win a serious in additional than a decade and go away DeChambeau to consider the one which received away.
There’s an enormity to the second and McIlroy is aware of it.
“I’ve talked about making an attempt to chase a sense on the market,” McIlroy stated Saturday night after his second consecutive 66. “If I can have that feeling and if I can go house tonight and look within the mirror earlier than I am going to mattress and be like, that’s the way in which I wish to really feel once I play golf, that, to me, is a victory.”
That is the primary 54-hole main championship lead McIlroy has held since his victory within the 2014 PGA Championship and the one different lead he carried into the ultimate spherical of the Masters ended with a crushing 80 in 2011.
“Fortunately, I’ve received a reasonably brief reminiscence,” McIlroy stated.
Whereas DeChambeau has his personal noisy fan base, McIlroy is the folks’s alternative this week. As he made his approach across the again 9, having jumped into the lead by taking part in his first 5 holes in 5-under par, he was met with loud ovations at every inexperienced, the patrons usually standing to greet him.
He isn’t oblivious to the second. He deliberate to spend a quiet Saturday night time along with his household, his telephone turned off and watching an episode of “Bridgerton” if he doesn’t go to sleep like he did Friday night time.
Whereas DeChambeau has his personal noisy fan base, McIlroy is the folks’s alternative this week. As he made his approach across the again 9, having jumped into the lead by taking part in his first 5 holes in 5-under par, he was met with loud ovations at every inexperienced, the patrons usually standing to greet him.
The air of anticipation has constructed all through the week and it reached a boil on Saturday.
“It’s wonderful to have the assist,” McIlroy stated.
“Tomorrow in that remaining group goes to be – it’s going to be somewhat rowdy and somewhat loud. I’m simply going to need to settle in and actually attempt to maintain myself in my very own little bubble and maintain my head down and type of method tomorrow with the identical perspective that I’ve tried to method the final three days with.”
If McIlroy reacts organically, DeChambeau performs to the group, his flamboyance part of his persona. As he chased McIlroy by the closing holes, making a brief birdie on the sixteenth and an extended, thunderous birdie on the 18th to trim his deficit to 2, DeChambeau stared defiantly on the patrons after his birdie at No. 16.
“Rory was sort of transferring ahead. He was at 12-under, and I used to be sort of chasing a bit. Once I made that, I appeared up and I stated, sort of as a press release, like, you recognize what, I’m nonetheless right here. I’m going to maintain going. I’m not going to again down,” DeChambeau stated.
Is it overdone?
Maybe.
Is it entertaining?
Little question.
Will it hassle McIlroy?
Too quickly to know.
“Will probably be the grandest stage that we’ve had in a very long time, and I’m excited for it,” DeChambeau stated.
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