Sawt Falasteen - Sizzling start lifts McIlroy to Masters lead

Two off the pace to start the day, McIlroy catapulted himself past overnight leader Justin Rose and Bryson DeChambeau -- who tied Rose at eight-under with a birdie at the first.

But the final pair of Rose and DeChambeau were finishing up on the first green when McIlroy gained the lead, holing out from 18 yards at the par-five second.

McIlroy, tied with Corey Conners to start the day, had taken advantage of a monster drive at the first, where he rolled in a 10-foot putt to secure a birdie.

It was a scintillating start to a day that Rose said would require patience above all on a course where birdie opportunities abound but over-aggressive play can be quickly punished.

“You need patience around this golf course. You also need to know when and where to be aggressive," Rose told CBS as he prepped for the round.

"It's simple, but it isn't always that simple," added Rose, who led the Masters through 36 holes for the third time but earned his lone major title to date 12 years ago at the US Open.

His patience was clearly set to be tested.

Defending champion Scottie Scheffler started the day three shots off the lead and tied with former British Open champion Shane Lowry, Tyrrell Hatton and Matt McCarty.

The 16 players within five strokes of the halfway lead included nine major champions.

Scheffler gained ground with a birdie at the par-five second as major winners Collin Morikawa and Jason Day also made quick inroads with early birdies.

Former Masters champion Zach Johnson, who made the cut on the number at two-over, was showing just what was possible.

Johnson, 49, streaked up the leaderboard with an eagle and six birdies to reach seven-under for the round through 16 holes and put himself among the top five.

South Korean Im Sung-jae quickly joined Johnson in reaching five-under when he holed out for eagle from off the green at the par-five second.

Jon Rahm, the 2023 Masters champion from Spain who also started two-over, birdied the first three holes and was four-under for the day through 16.

- Don't force the issue -

On a day that promised to see plenty of chopping and changing, McIlroy said he would try to keep his eyes off the leaderboard.

"It's the same mind set today, go out there take care of what I'm doing, don't look around," said the Northern Ireland star, who can become the sixth man to complete a career Grand Slam with a Masters victory.

"Just letting the score come to me, not trying to force the issue too much," McIlroy added of his strategy for the day.

"This is what golf is about," DeChambeau said. "Got a lot of great names up there, and looking forward to an unbelievable test of golf."

Under mostly sunny skies with light breezes, Day expected Augusta National's notorious greens to firm up to produce a fierce challenge.

"There's guys up at the top of the leaderboard that can hit it a long way, so I know that they're going to try and make it as difficult for us onto the greens as much as possible," Day said, adding that the third round was all about gaining position for the fourth.

"Get through (Saturday)," he said. "I know it's going to be tough, but get the opportunities, try to capitalize on them and then get myself into contention on the back nine on Sunday."

F.AbuZaid--SF-PST