AUGUSTA, Ga. — Rory McIlroy can’t help but look at the leaderboards.
Watch him run from fairway to green at any tournament in contention and you’ll see him dazzle them any chance he gets. The five-time winner always wants to know where he stands.
At Augusta National, where analog is king, the big white boards bring doubts about their speed, and on Friday, what happened a little bit to those names and number plates was a clear story.
A year after overcoming the ghosts of the Masters in spectacular fashion, McIlroy is in the driver’s seat as he pursues a second green jacket and the title of the first back-to-back winner at Augusta since Tiger Woods in 2001.
Be it a renewed sense of purpose, a sudden freedom or that he is, again, playing the best golf of anyone who calls this game their career, McIlroy opened his way to a 65 on Friday and a gap of six shots between him and the rest of the field. In 90 editions of the Masters, no one has ever led like this after two rounds.
“I’ve always felt that this golf course can let you hit runs if you let it,” McIlroy said. “I’ve always had the ability to go on these runs, but I think it got to the point where I allowed myself to play the field the way I could. So I was overtaking myself.
It’s not that McIlroy has been flying under the radar this week, but so much so that there has been so much focus on remembering last year’s history — numerous TV features, YouTube videos and documentaries — that his play this week has been seen as secondary. Not just about him. As he said on Friday, he prepared for this Masters as well as any, making the day trip from Florida to play the course and arriving here earlier this week.
“I’ve been on this golf course a lot in the last three weeks,” he said. “That’s been a combination of practicing and cutting and putting greens, and then just playing one ball and shooting points and ending up in weird spots that you might not have been in and trying to figure it out. I think spending a lot of time up here has been a big part of it.”
In his round Friday, McIlroy has shifted the conversation firmly to the present and brought history with him. However, sitting behind him, some of the best players in the world are ready to try to chase him even if he tries not to think about them.
“That’s not what I want to do,” McIlroy said when asked about threatening the entire field. “Honestly, I don’t care … golf is a very wonderful sport because it’s you and your golf ball and the golf course and that’s it. You shouldn’t be affected by anybody else.”
Those behind include the player he broke bread with at the Masters Champions Dinner on Tuesday night and his former opponent in Patrick Reed. The former LIV player, alongside Sam Burns, is six behind McIlroy. Reed, like McIlroy, is looking for a second win here. But while McIlroy can still go back and touch the emotions that defeated him on the 18th green last year, Reed’s memories of his victory are not fresh.
“Since 2018, I’ve been wanting to wear it a second time,” Reed said of the green jacket. “I like the position I’ve put myself in.”
The rest of the top 10 includes three players among the world’s top 10 golfers, five major winners and plenty of familiar faces. Justin Rose will be riding again this weekend looking for his second major victory knowing exactly what it takes to win. He came back last year and almost stole it from McIlroy in the playoffs. Can he also deliver an encore?
“Yes, I want to win this tournament. I don’t need to try harder,” Rose, 5 years under, said Friday. “Too much binding won’t help me. So maybe that’s the dance I’m doing too. I know the inner motivation is there. It’s about execution.”
With two eagles on Friday, Tommy Fleetwood made his mark on the leaderboard and sits seven back. Despite the round of 68 he put together, Fleetwood’s analysis of the weekend when he saw McIlroy on top was simple and straightforward.
“It’s up to him what happens,” Fleetwood said.
What McIlroy’s final round last year showed was twofold: There was never a big enough lead for him, or anyone, to feel comfortable at Augusta, yet no one had more pressure and expectations on him than that afternoon.
That has now disappeared, if not completely abandoned. McIlroy, as he cheekily explained Thursday, can bookend any round here by going to the Champions locker room where he can let a green jacket and Coke Zero tide him over for the rest of the day. It’s a comfort he’s still getting used to, but also an idea he clearly doesn’t allow to get in the way of his hunger to add to his immense worth.
“Years ago my mentality was not ‘Keep being flexible.’ It’s directed, it’s testing,” said McIlroy. “I think the experience I’ve gained over the years and obviously what happened last year, it makes it easier to keep skating.”
That’s why McIlroy’s advice going into the weekend is simple: Like last year, this quest isn’t about anyone else but his battle with the golf course and what’s between his ears. However, unlike last year, his mind is now in a better place to be.
“I think the next two days for me is about focusing on myself,” McIlroy said. “It’s hard to avoid those big leaderboards out there, but I know I have a lead. So I don’t have to keep looking.”
As McIlroy rolled up the hill leading to Friday’s 18th green, patrons in attendance who had seen the numbers next to his name on the leaderboard continued to grow and let him hear their praise.
“He’s hitting everything the right shot,” said another teacher.
Every step McIlroy takes raises the volume. He raised his putter in the air and, a few minutes later, used it to sink his ninth birdie of the day, sixth in the last seven holes. Before leaving the round behind, he took one last look at the well-known leaderboard around the grounds.
It told McIlroy all he needed to know: He has 36 more holes to add to his vision.
