One shot. A masterstroke. Like an artist who diligently uses a palette knife to erase a mistake, Rory McIlroy – who found himself in the pine straw in the trees to the right of the 13th hole – provided a stroke of beauty to set up an eagle on the par-5 finish to Amen Corner, which resurrected his quest to add this 89th Masters at Augusta National to his curriculum vitae, the only missing piece in his bid to complete the career Grand Slam.
Dejected and downbeat on Thursday evening after suffering further heartache to add to years of mental scar tissue at this golfing paradise, McIlroy seemed a different player, confidence restored, on his return. The Northern Irishman leapfrogged his way into contention with a display of shotmaking for a wonderfully crafted second round 66 to reach the midway point on six-under-par 138, two strokes behind clubhouse leader Justin Rose.
Shane Lowry, too, provided his own brushstrokes to move into contention, as a second-round 68 for 139 put him right into the thick of things.
From tortured soul to free spirit, a day in the life of McIlroy provided an insight into his mental resilience. You can never, ever rule him out.
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Where he’d left with shoulders slumped and dragging his feet after the first round, McIlroy’s old strut – chest out, shoulders held high – was back after a quite brilliant second round as he moved right into contention in chasing down a place in history, that green jacket again within reach.
Of all of his 66 strokes on a lovely, sunny day in Georgia, McIlroy’s approach shot from the pine straw with 189 yards to the front on the 13th was unquestionably the piece de resistance as he bravely fought his corner. Momentarily, his heart was in his mouth and his club in his hand with his knees bent until the ball safely crossed Rae’s Creek in front of the green and finished six feet from the hole.
“When the ball was in the air, I was like, ‘you idiot, what did you do?‘. I rode my luck a little bit with that second shot, but it was nice to take advantage of it. I rode my luck the whole way,” admitted a smiling McIlroy, who had – with caddie Harry Diamond – decided to change from an intended 5-iron up to a 4-iron for the shot. “I’m glad I did,” he said.
That shot was the highlight of McIlroy’s second round, but it was a bogey-free walk that gathered momentum with each forward step. He covered the front nine with eight pars and a birdie on the par-5 second only to gain impetus on the homeward run, boosted by back-to-back birdies on the 10th and 11th where he sank four-footers with fine approach play.
On the 10th, it was a three-quarter 8-iron; on the 11th, a three-quarter cut 9-iron. The eagle on the 13th was then followed by a birdie on the par-5 15th, the very scene of his derailing in the first round where he’d run up a double-bogey from nowhere.
Of getting his head back into the right place, following his remedial work on the practice ground, McIlroy said: “Once I left the property [on Thursday night], I just sort of tried to leave what had happened here. I rushed out of here to get home to see Poppy before she went to bed. So that was sort of nice to get to see her before she went to sleep.
“I guess that’s something that I didn’t have a few years ago, to be able to get home and have that sort of, you know, take my mind off the golf a little bit.
“I feel like I just did a good job of resetting. I had a good conversation with Bob Rotella this morning, mostly around not pushing too hard, too early and trying to get those shots back straight away. And you can sort of see how I started today with eight pars and a birdie on the front nine. I just tried to stay really, really patient.
“I feel like that patience was rewarded with a nice little stretch there in the middle of the round.”
For sure, that bid for the green jacket – seemingly derailed after a disappointing first round – was put very much back on track.
