With hot and dry weather forecast all week at Augusta National, the expectation was high and the fast greens would create difficult scoring conditions – McIlroy said he thought the winning score would not reach double digits under par.
There was also a belief that the officials in charge of course set-up would be pleased with this prospect.
However, his decision to water the greens every morning – to soften them for the next day – has made scoring easier as the weeks have gone on.
This has not been a popular decision among purists, who have accused the Masters of taking too soft a stance.
There’s no doubt that making things more scoreable has made for an entertaining spectacle as the Pack hunts down McIlroy.
World number one Scotty Scheffler was the first player to really take advantage as he threatened to challenge the course record of 63 jointly held by Nick Price (1986) and Greg Norman (1986) – with a blistering front nine.
The two-time champion, who won in 2022 and 2024, ultimately missed the mark and signed for a career-best 65, which put him back into contention by four paces after maintaining a recent trend of slow starts.
Ultimately co-leader Young also gave Price and Norman cause for concern when he reached seven under after 14 holes.
The 28-year-old American’s momentum was halted by a bogey on 15 – which would have been worse had he not come close with his fourth after finding water – but he recovered with birdie 16 to equal Scheffler’s low round of the day.
