AUGUSTA, Ga. — Rory McIlroy has set the mark. Now comes the hard part.
The World No. 2 and four-time major champion has to prepare for perhaps the most important day of his professional career. McIlroy shot a second consecutive 66 Saturday at Augusta National to lead the Masters by two shots at 12-under-par total. He’s searching for the final leg of the career Grand Slam for the 11th time, looking to join Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.
Trailing McIlroy is Bryson DeChambeau, McIlroy’s nemesis from the U.S. Open last summer at Pinehurst. DeChambeau drained a long birdie putt on the 18th hole Saturday here to sneak within two shots after driving it into the bunker off the tee. He birdied three of the last four holes too. The two men will be in the final pairing Sunday at Augusta National. Corey Conners and Patrick Reed will be in the penultimate group.
Here is a list of the pairings. Check back here soon when the tee times are available. The final group is expected to tee off at Augusta National around 2 p.m. local time.
Brian Campbell
Akshay Bhatia, Hideki Matsuyama
Min Woo Lee, Justin Thomas
J.J. Spaun, Brian Harman
Wyndham Clark, Patrick Cantlay
J.T. Poston, Danny Willett
Stephan Jaeger, Sam Burns
Nick Taylor, Matt Fitzpatrick
Charl Schwartzel, Tom Kim
Tommy Fleetwood, Davis Riley
Bubba Watson, Daniel Berger
Sahith Theegala, Aaron Rai
Denny McCarthy, Michael Kim
Harris English, Maverick McNealy
Jon Rahm, Joaquin Niemann
Rasmus Hojgaard, Ben An
Max Greyserman, Jordan Spieth
Matt McCarty, Tyrrell Hatton
Tom Hoge, Davis Thompson
Viktor Hovland, Collin Morikawa
Max Homa, Sungjae Im
Xander Schauffele, Nico Echavarria
Zach Johnson, Justin Rose
Shane Lowry, Scottie Scheffler
Jason Day, Ludvig Aberg
Corey Conners, Patrick Reed
Rory McIlroy, Bryson DeChambeau