AUGUSTA, GA. — You don’t build a six-shot lead through 36 holes at the Masters by accident.
Rory McIlroy’s game has been sublime: 15 birdies against just three bogeys; no doubles, those pesky card-wreckers that Jack Nicklaus had counseled McIlroy to avoid; an “amazing” short game (McIlroy’s word), as evidenced by his holed-out chip shot from 85 feet on 17 in the second round, a masterwork that produced roars you could hear up the hill by the clubhouse.
Thing is, though, McIlroy hasn’t been perfect. Far from it. On Thursday, he missed the fairway on his first six driving holes. Those misfires looked like this: left rough; right pine straw; left rough; left rough; right rough; right rough. He settled down and found the short stuff on 9, 10 and 11, but then came three more missed fairways on the back nine. On 13, he blocked his tee shot into the right rough; on 15, he tugged his drive into the left rough; on 18, he found the left fairway bunker. And yet he still shot a five-under 67.
In the second round, McIlroy was better off the tee but still leaky. He missed the first fairway right and, on 2, found the right fairway bunker. Then he found a groove, hitting the fairways on 3, 5, and 7, before blocking his tee shot at the par-5 8th into the right fairway bunker and hitting four more fairways at 9, 10, 11 and 14.
The remainder of his back-nine tee shots, however, were less accurate. On 13, for the second consecutive day, he missed right and had to punch out of the pine straw. On 15, he pushed his tee shot into right rough. On 17, he missed the fairway into the left pine straw, and, on 18, again pushed his tee ball into the right rough. By our count, that was seven fairways hit, although the official stat-keepers gave McIlroy credit for eight. Either way, the only number that really mattered was the one on McIlroy’s scorecard: a seven-under 65 that has given him a touchdown-sized lead at halftime of this 90th Masters.
If 13 fairways hit though two rounds sounds underwhelming, that’s because it is. Among the 91 players in the field, only Davis Riley hit fewer fairways over the first 36 holes — and Riley finished last, with rounds of 82-80.
There are two ways to assess McIlroy’s disobedient driver:
One, on what is a “second shot” golf course, it’s no big deal. McIlroy is missing fairways and still mashing the field. If he can straighten out his business over the weekend, he might win by two touchdowns.
Two, if you’re looking for a reason why this Masters isn’t over just yet, McIlroy’s driving might be it. On Thursday and Friday, fortune was on his side. At least a couple of his wayward tee balls could have settled behind pines and cost him a shot or more; none did. In every instance that McIlroy missed a fairway, he was able to advance his second shot into a place from where he could save par or in the case of, say, 15, 17 and 18 on Friday, make birdie.
For his part, McIlroy didn’t sound concerned about his driving. On Friday evening he said, “My little mantra to myself today was keep swinging, keep swinging hard at it even if you’re not hitting fairways, just keep swinging.” McIlroy said he wasn’t always comfortable taking that freewheeling approach at Augusta National, but he’s come to realize that “getting past myself” and “staying aggressive” is an effective way to play this course.
“Over the years this golf course is sometimes — you know, my mindset hasn’t been keep swinging,” he said. “It’s been guided, tentative. I think the experience I’ve accrued over the years and obviously with what happened last year, it makes it a bit easier out there to keep swinging.”
What happened last year, of course, was Scottie Scheffler slipping the green jacket onto McIlroy’s shoulders. Finally winning this tournament, at least some observers suspected, might have a freeing effect on McIlroy that would allow him to go full Rors on this beguiling course in ways that he never has. Through 36 holes his week, that is precisely what has happened. Whereas years ago — or even just last year — McIlroy might have looked at certain misplayed shots as reason to dial back, this week in those instances he has kept his foot on the gas pedal. As he said Friday: “Hit it in the trees at 13, fine, I can make a birdie doing it this way. Hit it in the trees at 15, same thing.
“The only way I can describe it is everything that you see or any situation that you come across, you can find a positive in it. And then you see birdies and you can see ways to make birdies.”
If those circles on his card keep coming Saturday, this thing might be over before Masters Sunday even begins.
