Leaderboard-12 McIlroy (8)-9 Young (12), Li (11)-8 Lowry (9), Burns (8)-7 Scheffler (F), Clark (10), Reed (8), Rose (8)
Shane Lowry’s hole-in-one at the sixth:
The one drive McIlroy rarely struggles with is the 9th, where he has the best record of any golfer. He is -8 over his 63 rounds, the only hole where he is all-time leader. He puts it well down there.
Brilliant approach by Lowry! All over the hole at the 10th, just bounces past for another hole out, but great birdie chance to get one back again.
McIlroy misses birdie putt. Watery putt, never looked convincing and it’s just a par for the two par 5s so far. Massive break by Young (-9) on the 13th as he hooks it into the trees but bounces back onto the fairway for him.
Bogey for Lowry! Oh he can’t afford to make mistakes like that on a low-scoring day as he pulls his par putt from about five feet. Falls to -8 at the 9th. He goes out in 33 all the same, going well.
Just on okay pitch for McIlroy (-12) and work to do for his birdie at the 8th.
Young (-9) is -5 for the round and he had two good birdie chances at the 11th and 12th too. The course is playing a little bit too easy for my liking after they watered the greens, but like a quiz it’s only easy if you know the answer and McIlroy is the only player in the top 10 who isn’t under par today. A good second shot at the 8th though, and a chance to get up and down for birdie.
I can’t believe they’ve set up Augusta National like you’d set up St. Andrews in Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005 when you were trying to shoot a 48 with “Sunday Tiger”
— Christopher Powers (@CPowers14) April 11, 2026
The scoring average today is 70.84, compared to 74.65 on the opening day.
McIlroy (-12) does not his it straight again at the 8th, nothing new there in this round. Lowry (-9) meanwhile is the opposite, has been hitting it straight with the driver all week and hits a rare wayward one on the 9th and has to curve one around the trees to get him within range of the green.
Another good par on the board by McIlroy (-12) at 7, although with a par 5 coming up, a birdie wouldn’t go amiss to hold off the chasing pack. Which is being led by his mate Shane at least. It’s a birdie-fest, but one goes abegging for Li (-9) as he misses a short one on 10 for birdie.
Scheffler (-7) was in trouble off the tee and had to lay up. It’s just a stunning wedge then from 100 yards to a foot of the hole, what a player. A 65 to give the whole field something to think about tomorrow.
Scottie Scheffler of the United States looks on. Photograph: Andrew Redington/Getty
McIlroy (-12) from the bunker is a good one at 7, but still work to do to make par. Young (-9) looks the danger man, the Players champion hitting the sort of shots that made him such a threat during the Ryder Cup last year, birdieing all around him.
Birdie for Lowry! He moves into a tie for second again and is chasing down Rory. Fantastic birdie and four under for the day, up to -9.
McIlroy (-12) is wayward again on the 7th, tries to manufacture one to the green but into the bunker. It’s just a bit of a struggle today, he’s had to grind the first seven holes.
Lowry (-8) hits a beauty of a pitch on the 8th, flops it high up and drops beautifully to just short of the hole. Then Li (-9) goes for the hole on 10 with his approach and nearly holes again!
Just took a wee breather, but McIlroy (-12) has saved par at the 6th from a difficult position. Super chip from the angle he was in and made an important putt. Meanwhile Young has moved up to -9 with birdie at the 10th.
He holed out for eagle on the 13th this week too, just something about Lowry and his penchant for these hole outs.
Shane Lowry’s hole-in-one resume continues to build:
7 at Pebble Beach
17 at TPC Sawgrass
16 at Augusta
6 at Augusta
2 at Memorial Park
— Shane Bacon (@shanebacon) April 11, 2026
Birdie for Scheffler! After a slow part of the round, he goes -7 for the day with a birdie at the 16th.
Poor shot by McIlroy (-12) at the sixth unfortunately. He hates it and goes down the left, wrong side of the green and a very tough chip left to save par.
So close! McIlroy (-12) at the 5th only had a gap wedge in at the par 4 5th and his putt just edges past the hole for birdie.
Right then, Lowry (-8) is in the middle of the fairway at the 7th and a good approach it seemed but it just fell down the slope.
McIlroy (-12) hits a massive drive on the fifth, well over the bunkers that cause many problems. Li (-7) hits a wood up the par 5 8th to fairly close for eagle.
Bogey for Reed! Back-to-back birdies and suddenly not the main challenger on the leaderboard. That would be…
Eagle for Haotong Li! The Chinese player gets it at the eighth from three feet and moves within three at -9. He’s five under for the day through eight.
Buzzing after that moment by Lowry, I will try to get a clip of that here as soon as I can. It’s moved him up to tied second for the tournament too.
Back to the grind for McIlroy (-12) and he makes a great par at the 4th to keep things steady. Meanwhile, Young (-8) birdies the eight to move into that group at four behind.
Here we go:
HOLE IN ONE FOR SHANE LOWRY! He’s done it again, at the par 3 6th, he goes to -8.
Big smile and cheer, jump up and down. Magical moment. Amazingly, that’s his second ace at Augusta, having got one previously at the 16th.
Bogey for Reed! His putt goes to the left and fails to get up and down, McIlroy is back four ahead again, but lots of players are flying behind him.
On the fourth hole, McIlroy (-12) hits into the right bunker and good recovery required for par.
Rory McIlroy and his caddie Harry Diamond walking at Augusta. Photograph: Erik S Lesser/EPA
Reed (-9) hits a good bunker shot, but he has that range of seven feet or so he usually excels at to make par.
Lowry (-6) on the upslope at the 5th hits the centre of the green and goes towards the back, it’s a tough hole though so it’s not bad.
Scheffler (-6) failed to birdie the 13th but he’s hit a good approach to the 14th up the slope and around towards the hole, another good chance for birdie, but he lips out.
Birdie for McIlroy! So close to an eagle, looked like it was going in but just dies before the hole. Lead is back to three, back to -12.
A mistake by Burns (-8) as he tries to flop it onto the green at the 3rd with his second shot, bumps the next one up but has a putt to make to save par. But he makes it to keep his score going nicely.
Young moves to -7 with a birdie at the 7th. Lowry gets his par at the 4th and stays at -6. Reed (-9) is in the front bunker on the par 3 4th.
Birdie for Reed! Wow he’s pitched it to the perfect distance again and another 10 footer straight in. A remarkable start to go to -9 and the American has already reduced McIlroy’s lead to two shots.
That’s more like it from McIlroy! He drives the green on the par 4 3rd like Clark did, all 350 yards of it, and has an eagle attempt coming up.
McIlroy (-11) lags it up well but one over through two is not the best when many have birdied the 2nd hole.
Lowry (-6) went to the back of the green at the 4th and a quick downhill putt goes well past, will struggle to make his par.
Birdie for Rose! Great birdie down the hill at the 3rd to go to -6. Birdie for Burns! He joins Reed at -8. They’re circling.
Great approach by Burns (-7) after laying up and another birdie chance to top the chasing fight with Reed.
McIlroy (-11) hits a mediocre pitch, looked nervy and heavy-handed, and a long birdie putt ahead at the 2nd.
McIlroy (-11) is beside a tree and may not have a full swing at the 2nd. This isn’t the start he envisaged. He finds a backswing, barely, but pulls it way into the crowd. He has an angle for a chip to the green, but a messy start no doubt.
Birdie for Li! Three birdies in his first five holes, including the difficult 5th, to move to -7.
Watch this eagle by Clark:
Birdie for Reed! He starts birdie-birdie to get to -8 and the lead is only three shots within about half an hour of the round starting.
Going to be a lot of birdies today, hard to report them all, but we have birdies for Burns to move to tied second on -7, a birdie for Fleetwood at the 2nd. Clark has eagled the 3rd after almost holing his tee shot! So lots of volatility ahead.
McIlroy (-11) is in the pine straw yet again on the 2nd off the tee. Two missed fairways to start.
Reed (-7) hits a bunker shot to close to set up another birdie!
Birdie for Lowry! He holes the putt at the 2nd to go to -6.
Bogey for McIlroy! Oh dear, nervy putt from off the green up the hill. Doesn’t go as far as he would like and then misses the par putt down the hill.
The lead is now four already.
Good shot by Burns (-6) at the first to set up a birdie chance. McIlroy (-12) only has 89 yards after a massive drive, punches it below the trees but a big bounce and goes over the back.
Lowry (-5) laid up at the 2nd, 104 yards and a lovely wedge but it spins back a bit to about 10 feet for birdie.
Rory McIlroy is under way
In typical form so far, he misses the fairway, but carries the bunker on the right with a big hit. Again he will likely be blocked off to truly go for the hole with his approach, but not too bad.
Birdie for Reed! He makes the perfect start, approach to pin high and unsurprisingly a beautiful putt into the middle of the hole. He moves into second on his own on -7.
Rory McIlroy is heading for the tee. Can McIlroy hit the fairway at the first? He’s only hit 13 of 28 fairways so far, 90th of 91 players in the field.
Birdie for Young! He chips in at the 4th to go to -6, and continues his incredible run since being +4 after the first 9 holes on Thursday.
Birdie for Scheffler! Wow, what a run, he goes -6 for the day after birdieing the difficult 11th.
Scheffler misses at the 10th, as Cameron Young (-5) birdies the 3rd after driving the par 4 in one, and Li is up to -5 as well.
Patrick Reed and Justin Rose are on the tee, the penultimate group. They’re both on the fairway.
Lowry (-5) misses the birdie chance. He’s up after it, straight to the right of the hole. Chance gone.
Scheffler (-5) has truly found his game and hits another towering iron shot on 10 to set up another chance.
Brilliant shot by Lowry at the 1st! From 148 yards, he leaves himself six or seven feet below the hole for birdie.
Shane Lowry tees off the first
“Shane Lowry, now driving,” says the announcer as it’s pointed out it was his first ever bogey-free round at Augusta yesterday. It’s a beauty to start, right down the middle. He’s birdied that hole in his first two days. His playing partner Tommy Fleetwood is in the bunker off the 1st. They both start the day at -5.
Scheffler gets the birdie, that’s three in a row now and up to -5. Not quite ominous yet for Rory’s lead but enough that if he has a good back nine, he could put himself within range tomorrow. He did shoot a final-round 62 to win the Olympic gold, so it’s not beyond a player of his calibre.
Shane Lowry will be next on the first tee, playing with Tommy Fleetwood.
Special shot by Scheffler (-4) at the 9th hole, he lips out his second shot for eagle, almost holed it! Should be a birdie to go out in an impressive 31 shots though.
Playing soft enough today so far, plenty of chances for birdies for the chasing pack:
Hideki Matsuyama and Max Homa have moved up to the first page of the leaderboard on -4, while Scheffler and Matt Fitzpatrick are among those up to -3. Scheffler ended up just short at the par 5 eighth in two but hit a superb chip and should get to -4.
Chris Gotterup (-3) has hit a cracking shot into the par 5 second to set up a close eagle opportunity. He gets the eagle to go to -5!
The stats behind McIlroy’s performance at the 2026 Masters so far:
No player has led by six shots after 36 holes before.It was his fourth career Masters round of 65 or better, in a tie with Jack Nicklaus for most ever.McIlroy’s round of 65 is the lowest shot by a defending champion.He is on course to become the fourth player to defend the Masters after Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods, the first since 2002.
McIlroy is filmed walking into the property now, with that customary strut of confidence, he’ll warm up on the range ahead of his round in about an hour’s time.
—
Here is what he said about his preparation for the tournament last night:
Q. How important were those couple of weeks off from an energy perspective knowing that you’re coming here last Saturday, and by Sunday you had been here for nine days now and people are so demanding of your time and there’s so much that goes on being a defending champion? Just wondering if energy was a factor in your decision to not play.
RORY McILROY: No, not really. I honestly just don’t like the three tournaments leading up to this event. I’d rather come up here. I did a couple of days where I dropped Poppy to school, flew up here, played, landed back home and had dinner with her – or had dinner with Erica probably. Like I did a couple of day trips like that where I felt it was a better use of my time than going to Houston or San Antonio.
It wasn’t really about conserving energy, but just I felt the more time I could spend up here, the better.
—
Taking a private jet to play Augusta and back for dinner at home. Not a bad day if you can do it!
Watch McIlroy’s round yesterday in less than three minutes:
Of the early starters, world number one Scottie Scheffler is among the best, having eagled the second hole for the second time this week. He’s up -2 after four holes, but he would have to get four or five more under par to give McIlroy something to think about for tomorrow, you’d think. The 2023 Open champion Brian Harman is the best on the course, -4 for the day after 14 holes and Even par for the tournament.
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the third round of the Masters from Augusta National from moving day. Rory McIlroy leads by an incredible six shots after two days after stunning rounds of 65 and 67 to get to 12 under as he looks to win back-to-back Masters and a sixth Major championship. Nobody has been six shots ahead after two rounds at Augusta before, so it is uncharted territory.
The question is really can he extend that lead and make it a non-contest, like he did at the US Open when he won by eight strokes in 2011, or does he fall back to the pack? Does someone go on a historic run from the pack to catch him? And is that person Shane Lowry? He’s out in the third last group at seven back, so he is in the conversation.
Lowry is out with Tommy Fleetwood at 7.28pm, with McIlroy out at 7.50pm with Sam Burns. That’s when main coverage and live updates will start here.