Rory McIlroy “won’t shy away” from Masters showdown with Bryson DeChambeau

So, here we go again. 

It’s fourteen years in the making, but Rory McIlroy now has his big shot at immortality.

Going head-to-head with a revved up Bryson DeChambeau on this most highly-anticipated of Masters Sundays, McIlroy has the chance to write his name into sporting legend.

You know the names already. Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Ben Hogan, Gary Player and Gene Sarazen.

What feels like a lifetime on from that haunting collapse when he held the 54-hole lead in 2011, McIlroy is now 18 holes away from joining that pantheon of greats and becoming the sixth man in history to complete the career grand slam.

And tantalisingly, this could well be a case of now or never for McIlroy.

His second straight six-under 66 doesn’t even tell half the story of an electric day here amongst the cathedral pines. After pumping his first drive 371 yards in anger, the fired up Northern Irishman became the first player in Augusta history to start with six straight threes. Five-under through five holes, he seemed unstoppable.

• “What I noticed during a morning inside the Augusta National clubhouse”

• Legendary caddie takes swipe at LIV Golf stars at the Masters

But, of course, the illuminating thing about McIlroy is not just his genius, but his fallibility.

Unforced errors with bogeys on the 8th and 10th threatened to derail his good work. He settled through Amen Corner, though, and capitalised in style on the second-nine par-5s. A birdie on the 13th was followed by a magical eagle on 15.

From a standing start after his round one collapse left him at even par, the irrepressible McIlroy had launched himself into a three-shot lead a scintillating 36-hole stretch.

But wait.

Then came the similarly box-office DeChambeau, McIlroy’s heartbreaker last year at Pinehurst.

The US Open champion, who cruelly prolonged McIlroy’s decade long major wait last June, hung around for much of Saturday struggling with his irons. An inspired finish, though, included three birdies in his final four holes and was complete with a fist-bump after draining on long putt on the last.

A momentum swing indeed as DeChambeau signed for a 69 to close to cut his deficit to two. The stubborn Canadian Corey Conners is a further two strokes behind, with Ludvig Aberg and Patrick Reed six back from McIlroy’s minus 12 benchmark.

You could scarcely have dreamed up this leaderboard any better.

“I am not going to shy away from it,” McIlroy said ahead of his date with destiny. “Situations like tomorrow are the reason I get up and practice and try and do all the right things.

“If I didn’t want this moment, I wouldn’t be doing those things. These are the pairings I want to be in and I’m excited for that.”

Despite some missed putts around the turn, McIlroy was sufficiently pleased with his 66 blows, which tied the lowest round of the day.

“I think my iron play and my approach play was really solid today,” he added.

“Just to come out of the blocks like that, I think, as well, from finishing yesterday afternoon to teeing off today, it’s quite a long time. You know, there’s a lot of anticipation and sort of anxious energy that builds up. You just want to get out there and play.

“So you know, with all of that, to go out and start the way I did, was amazing. And then I had that a little bit of a wobble around the turn there with the bogey on eight, the missed chance on nine and then the three-putt on ten.

“I thought that the par putt on 11 was huge, just to sort of get some momentum back.

“You know, to get through 11 and 12 at even par was great. And then, you know, all I was trying to do then was take advantage of the par-5s coming in, and thankfully I was able to do that.”

DeChambeau, who has had a quieter demeanour at Augusta this week but has timed his run perfectly, has also spoken regularly of his own childhood dream of slipping into a Green Jacket one day.

Perhaps his time has come, again at the hands of McIlroy.

It is not an exaggeration to say tomorrow will likely be the best or worst moment of McIlroy’s career.

“Every hole matters, the most important thing is looking forward to the next shot and thinking ‘how can I give myself the best chance?’” DeChambeau said afterwards.

“I wasn’t striking my irons well today so I’ve got to work on that and if I can get that locked in for tomorrow, it’s going to be a fun match.”

That, of course is some way of understating it.

As it has promised to be all week long, the finale of this 89th Masters will be one for the ages.

Ben Parsons is the Senior Writer at bunkered and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.