Rory McIlroy has a 6-shot lead entering the 3rd round of the Masters. Can anyone make it close?

Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, waves after his putt on the 13th hole during the second round of the Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club, Friday, April 10, 2026, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum) 2026-04-11T10:00:08Z AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Rory McIlroy planned to keep his mind off golf as much as possible while awaiting the third round of the Masters. “There’s actually two really good semifinals at Monte Carlo in the tennis. So I’ll watch that,” he said. “We’ve been watching the tennis early in the mornings.” The tennis matches might be more competitive than what’s taken place so far at Augusta National, where McIlroy led by a record six strokes after 36 holes. He birdied six of the last seven in a second-round 65 on Friday that left him at 12 under par for the tournament. Now this could go a few different ways. McIlroy could cruise to victory and become the fourth player to win back-to-back Masters. He could maintain this level of domination and challenge Tiger Woods’ record for margin of victory (12) or Dustin Johnson’s for lowest score (20 under). Or he could blow the lead and make history that way — 36 holes is a lot of golf still to play. “Look, I’ve built up a nice cushion at this point,” McIlroy said. “I guess my mindset is just trying to keep playing well and keeping my foot on the gas.” McIlroy nearly was paired in Saturday’s final group with Patrick Reed, his foil during a memorable Ryder Cup match in 2016 and in the final group of the 2018 Masters, won by Reed. But a bogey on the 18th hole Friday left Reed tied for second with Sam Burns, who will play with McIlroy on Saturday. “Just have to wait and see what the weekend entails,” Reed said. “Hopefully I can go out and have a good day tomorrow and have a good shot going into Sunday.” (