McIlroy begins Masters final round as repeat drama looms
Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler opened with a birdie to reach eight under in the final round of the Masters (Andrew Redington) Co-leaders Rory McIlroy and Cameron Young began their final rounds at the Masters on Sunday as an afternoon shootout was set to unfold at firm and fast Augusta National. A back-nine showdown for the green jacket and a record top prize of $4. 5 million featured major winners and rivals seeking their first elite crown.
Defending champion McIlroy and third-ranked Young, last month's Players Championship winner, were on 11-under par as they teed off, and were soon joined at the top of the leaderboard by Sam Burns, after a birdie on the first. "It's a matter of staying in my own lane," Young said before his round. "Everybody is going to have their runs.
I've got to wait for mine. " McIlroy, seeking a sixth major title, is trying to join Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Nick Faldo as the only back-to-back winners in Masters history. England's 45-year-old Justin Rose, a three-time Masters runner-up who lost a playoff last year to McIlroy, chipped in from 27 feet to open with a birdie and reach nine-under.
Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler, a four-time major winner seeking his third Masters crown in five seasons, sank an eight foot birdie at the first hole to reach eight-under. Australian Jason Day, the 2015 PGA Championship winner, parred the first to stay on eight-under. Good scores were on offer early.
Norway's Viktor Hovland made five birdies on the front nine, added a 53-foot birdie putt at 11 and two-putted from 42 feet to birdie the par-five 13th. He found water over the green to make double bogey at the par-five 15th but answered with a five-foot birdie putt at the par-three 16th on the way to a 67. Sweden's Ludvig Aberg opened with three birdies to reach six-under while American Gary Woodland fired a six-under 66, his career low at Augusta.