'Must do better' - Rory McIlroy on losing big Masters lead to in-form Cameron Young

Rory McIlroy has spent most of the 90th Masters so far in the giant trees that flank the fairways at Augusta National and especially so when playing par 5s.

He’d missed 11 out of 11 fairways with tee shots at the holes that really matter at the Georgia venue before finally finding the short stuff at the 15th in the third round.

After starting out with a record six-shot lead, McIlroy, who double bogeyed the 11th after getting wet with his second shot and then bogeyed the short 12th, had been overtaken by Cameron Young when he arrived on the 14th tee.

A birdie there was timely for the defending champion, as was the one set up by his fairway-finding drive at the next hole. He was back in front again but not for long.

He might have produced a wonder shot from the trees on the left of the par-4 17th in the final round last year en route to finally claiming a Green Jacket, becoming just the sixth player to complete a career grand slam.

That was a towering blow through a tiny gap in the trees but, needing to hit a low one this time, he couldn’t keep it on the green and was then timid with an eight-footer to save par.

A par to finish left McIlroy, who missed it on the left all day long, signing for a 73. It wasn’t what he had in mind setting out. Still, the world No 2 has a great chance of becoming the first player to win this event back-to-back since Tiger Woods in 2002.

At the end of a dramatic day under a blazing sun, McIlroy and Young are locked together on 11 under, one ahead of Sam Burns, who, playing with McIlroy, hung in there to stay in the mix. Like Young, he’s chasing a maiden major win.

“I didn’t quite have it today,” admitted McIlroy. “The course is gettable and the quality of the chasing pack is obvious. A lot of guys are still in with a chance and I need to be better to have a chance tomorrow. I’ll go to the range to try and figure something out, but I’m in the final group and still have a great chance.”

Shane Lowry, the 2019 Open champion, is one shot further back. He created history after making a hole-in-one at the sixth. Having also made one the 16th in 2016, he is the first player to make multiple Masters aces.

“That's wild, isn't it?” said the Irishman of his feat. “The walk down the sixth hole with everyone around 16 and the 6th was very special. I'll remember that for a while.”

Young, winner of The Players Championship last month, was four-over-par after seven holes in Thursday’s opening round and looking as though he’d be watching the final round on Sunday on TV at home in Florida.

Three birdies in four holes in a back-nine rally restored some of that damage. He then made four gains in a row from the 12th in the second round to reach the halfway point on four under, leaving him eight behind McIlroy at the halfway stage.

It needed a big third-day push for Young, who finished runner-up to Cameron Young and just ahead of McIlroy in The Open at St Andrews in 2022 and, boy, did he produce one. Birdies were made at the third, fourth, seventh, eighth, tenth, 13th, 14th and 16th.

His only slip came at the 15th, where, after laying up, he put his third shot in the water but limited the damage to a bogey by getting up and down. It was a mighty-impressive 65 from the world No 3.

“I felt ready to go but just got off to one of those starts,” admitted Young, paying his first visit to Butler Cabin, where the Green Jacket will be presented to the winner on Sunday, of the position he’d found himself early on in the tournament.

Explaining what had happened since the eighth hole onwards on Thursday, the 28-year-old said it had been a “turnaround of some small things”.

Young had been in the same group as McIlroy, so had a bird’s eye view of the Northern Irishman shooting a second-round 65 to lead by a record margin after 36 holes. He said he wouldn’t have been surprised if McIlroy had gone out on Saturday and matched that effort but also acknowledged that “no lead is safe here”.

In addition to his eye-catching effort in the 150th Open, Young finished third in the 2022 PGA Championship and fourth in the 2025 US Open. “I feel as though I have been around leaderboards but never here,” he said of a best finish being seventh behind Jon Rahm in 2023.

Three-time runner-up Justin Rose sits on eight under alongside former world No 1 Jason Day, with two-time winner Scottie Scheffler just four off the lead after carding a Masters-best 65.

Some thought McIlroy might run away with this one, but he’s now got work on his hands to join Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Woods as the only players to successful defend this title. “I’ve got to look at the positives, even though there weren’t that many,” he admitted.