Rory roars back in round 2 of Masters, Rose still leads

• Rory McIlroy shot a 6-under 66 in the second round of the Masters to get back into contention. He now trails leader Justin Rose by two shots.
• McIlroy rebounded from a tough stretch Thursday, where he had double-bogies on the 15th and 17th holes.
• Others in contention heading into the weekend include Shane Lowrey, Tyrrell Hatton and defending champion Scottie Scheffler.

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Nearly written off after a collapse during the final four holes of the Masters’ first round, Rory McIlroy put himself back in contention Friday, April 11, charging up the leaderboard with a 66 –– the low round of the day. 

How did McIlroy get back into contention?

The Northern Irishman, who needs the green jacket to earn the career major grand slam, started the back nine with back-to-back birdies, then eagled 13 and birdied 15 to reach six under par. It was good enough to move him 24 spots up the leaderboard into third place. 

McIlroy was asked how he put Thursday, April 10, behind him and said it was important to get home after the first round before his daughter went to bed, which helped him stay grounded.

“I just had to remind myself that I played really good golf yesterday and, you know, I wasn’t going to let two bad holes sort of dictate the narrative for the rest of the week,” McIlroy said. “But yeah, just ultimately, just proud of how I got back into it today.”

How steady was leader Justin Rose Friday?

While McIlroy was the story of the day, the leader is still Britain’s Justin Rose, shooting a 1-under 71 to finish at -8 after two rounds. Like McIlroy, he’s also looking for his first green jacket. He took a good-natured shot at the television pundits who said he’d fall off in the second round. 

“I’m glad you told me now, not this morning –– that’s probably why I’m not going to watch TV all afternoon,” Rose said. “So thank you, yeah. What do they know? That’s why they’re pundits. No, listen, I mean, sometimes it’s hard to follow a low round with another one. That’s just the nature of it sometimes, but I feel like if you’re playing good golf, you’re playing good golf.”

Rose leads heading into the third round, followed by Bryson DeChambeau, who is quietly in the mix for major championship number three. DeChambeau says shooting for the middle of the green instead of the flag has been a big key to his success this week.

After DeChambeau, McIlroy and Conners are at -6, and four players are at -5, including defending champion Scottie Scheffler, who explained why he’s not higher up the leaderboard.

“Yesterday I felt really sharp, today not as sharp,” Scheffler said. “Could the conditions have contributed to that? I’m sure a little bit. It was definitely much harder to hit the ball where you were looking today just because the wind was blowing from everywhere.”

Scheffler added, “That’s what’s great about this golf course; you get winds like that. You have to manage expectations and manage yourself around the course.”

Who are some of the players that missed the cut?

Some notable names who did not manage the course and thus did not make the cut include legends Fred Couples and Bernhard Langer. The 67-year-old Langer missed the cut with a bogie on 18.

Meanwhile, LIV golfers Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia and Brooks Koepka also failed to make the cut. Koepka’s brutal quadruple bogey on 18 ruined his second round.  

Saturday, April 12, is known as “moving day,” and after it’s all said and done, the players in contention will want to be in one of the final two pairings. Seventeen of the last 20 Masters winners have come from that spot on the leaderboard when teeing off for the final round.