McIlroy seizes control at Augusta as Grand Slam beckons
· RTE.ieRory McIlroy fired his second straight round of 66 to brilliantly seize control of the Masters, leaving him one round of golf away from completing the career Grand Slam.
The Holywood star got off to a sensational start to his third round when he began the day with six straight threes on his card - the first player to ever do so in Masters history.
McIlroy sits on 12-under-par heading into the final round, just two clear of Bryson DeChambeau who signalled his intent by holing a monster putt on the final green to drag himself within two.
McIlroy made a stunning start to the third round of the 89th Masters. He began the day two shots behind Ryder Cup team-mate Justin Rose, but holed from 10 feet for birdie on the first and then chipped in from over the second green for an eagle.
That vaulted McIlroy to the top of the leaderboard on nine under par, a shot ahead of Rose and US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, who had holed from 45 feet for birdie on the first.
McIlroy also birdied the third to briefly open up a two-shot lead, only for DeChambeau to quickly close the gap.
DeChambeau, who edged out McIlroy in thrilling fashion at Pinehurst last year, found the green in two on the par-five second and did well to two-putt from 70 feet.
A birdie on the difficult fifth meant McIlroy had covered the first five holes in five under par and he enjoyed a four-shot lead when DeChambeau dropped shots on third and seventh.
However, McIlroy then bogeyed the eighth after finding sand off the tee and missed from four feet for birdie on the ninth, allowing DeChambeau to close the gap to two thanks to a birdie on the eighth.
The gap was down to one when McIlroy three-putted the 10th, with playing partner Corey Conners making his third straight birdie at the same hole to join DeChambeau in second.
DeChambeau continued to struggle with distance control with his irons however and bogeyed the 12th before McIlroy birdied the par-five 13th and made a stunning eagle on the 15th.
A 340-yard drive set up a towering six-iron approach and McIlroy calmly rolled in the eagle putt from six feet to move four shots clear.
Shane Lowry stumbled slightly late on to card a round of level par, leaving him well inside the top 10 on five-under-par.
The Offaly man admitted he was "p***** off" by the poor finish, having been within three shots of the lead when he picked up his fourth shot of the day on the 14th, before he bogeyed the last two holes.
"I felt like I let a really good day go there at the end, so I'm obviously disappointed," the 2019 Open champion said.
"But just have to pick myself up and get some rest tonight and get after it tomorrow."
He continued: "Driver didn't feel comfortable today. It was hard out there. But it was great fun at the same time. It's where you want to be. It's what you want to do. It's what you live for. But I want to win this tournament, so I'm p***** off.
"I got off to a great start. There was an unbelievable atmosphere out there. Rory obviously was playing good behind and the roars, you had to stand off it a little bit, wait for those to happen, wait for him to get the shots.
"But I've been around the block long enough to know that I need to do that. I felt like I did a good job. It's just a very unfortunate finish. I'm very disappointed. But that's this game."
Overnight leader Justin Rose struggled to a round of 75.
Lowry, paired with Scottie Scheffler, will be in the fourth last group on Sunday, teeing off at 7pm Irish time. McIlroy and DeChambeau will anchor the field, getting their final round underway at 7.30pm.
Additional reporting: PA
Follow our final day Masters tracker right here on rte.ie/sport on Sunday evening