And there he is. After 16 previous visits to this land of pines and pain and so many inquests, Rory McIlroy has his chance to set it all right. His opportunity. His moment to stop that awful clock and finally win one of those jackets.
If he can hold it together for 18 more holes, starting at around 2.40pm local time on Sunday, a superb career will be elevated to greatness. To a full set of majors. To a table at which only Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan, Gary Player and Gene Sarazen have ever sat.
And what a prospect that is. And what a tap-in.
Because no one ever loses a decent lead on the final day at Augusta National, do they?
Goodness, if a two-stroke head start is a gift for McIlroy after reaching 12 under par with a magnificent round of 66, then we must consider the curse that comes with it. That being the requirement to sleep on it when this guy has spent 11 years chasing a fifth major and has developed a flair for unearthing innovative new ways to lose on his sport’s four biggest stages.
His scars go bone deep; his mind has been cut open more times than the turf of the drop zones around Rae’s Creek. But maybe this is his time, with Bryson DeChambeau, yes him, the man in closest pursuit. Remember the US Open last summer?
Rory McIlroy tops the leaderboard on 12-under after three rounds at The Masters in Augusta
McIlroy made four birdies and two eagles, as well as two bogeys, as he carded 66 on Saturday
McIlroy has never won The Masters but he will now go into the final day as a heavy favourite
It would be a brave soul in McIlroy’s orbit to bring that up at the rental house. Or to mention how DeChambneau was a full 30 feet from the cup on the 18th hole of his third round and then made the damn thing in a fist-pumping fury to get to 10 under par, two shy.
And now McIlroy has to see off that madman, the same one who inspired his most painful collapse, if we are to assume that Pinehurst in 2024 hurt more than the one he suffered here, as a boy in 2011, when a four-shot lead made way for 14 years of reminders.
In close proximity to DeChambeau will be Canadia Corey Conners on eight under, two clear of Patrick Reed, Ludvig Aberg and Justin Rose.
If McIlroy plays like he has done in the past two days, and in the third round in particular, then good luck to them. This second straight loop of 66 was a thing of beauty and included a broken record to illustrate how good it was.
Never before in the history of the Masters has anyone made such a rapid start to a round as the world No 2 did here – a birdie at the first and a chip-in eagle at the second were soon joined by strokes gained at the third and fifth. As a sequence of numbers it read: 3-3-3-3-3. Astonishing, unprecedented and barely the half of it.
Because there were wobbles, especially in the stretch from the eighth to the 10th holes when he gave two shots back to the course, but then came an almighty gut punch to the field when he pierced the sky with his five iron from 205 yards and left himself six feet for another eagle.
When he dropped that putt and walked off to the 16th tee, he was at six under par for his round, 12 under for the tournament, and there he stayed to the end. For a time that put him four clear of DeChambeau, but two birdies in his final three holes made an incredible drama of it. Because if McIlroy is to get it done, it was never meant to be easy.
But on moving day, he made it look that way – he went off like a greyhound, flying his opening drive an absurd 371 yards up the steepest hill on the course, comfortably carrying the fairway trap that was designed to inspire caution. The words of his mind guru, Dr Bob Rotella, had called for patience and were soundly ignored.
Bryson DeChambeau is ominously poised with the American just two shots behind McIlroy
Canadian Corey Conners is currently third on the leaderboard – just four shots behind McIlroy
With a wedge in his hand, McIlroy capitalised on that rocket off the tee by floating his approach to 10 feet and nailing the birdie.
That was an ideal way to send a message to the field, but it was at the par-five second where the sense of a full-blown charge was ignited.
This drive was also huge – 369 yards, fairway found – and from 220 yards out he went for the green in two. Not only that, he was going for the flag, which on becalmed day had been tucked behind the trap. The risk was realised when his four iron skipped through the putting surface and into a nasty hollow behind the upturned saucer of a green.
The challenge there was pretty stiff, with McIlroy needing to chip the ball high enough to guarantee a soft landing and no wild rides down the slope towards the fairway. Regripping his wedge three times, he sent it up and watched it come down on a right-to-left roll for eagle. A fist pump followed.
When McIlroy birdied from seven feet at the next, it meant he had leapt from six under to 10 under and from two behind Rose to two clear of DeChambeau, who had taken over the chasing pack.
But McIlroy was the only one moving at speed. A 173-yard approach to 18 feet on the fifth set up a tough chance that he drained and with it came a piece of history – in 89 editions of this tournament no one had slashed five strokes out of the first five holes.
A par was scrambled at the seventh after McIlroy faded his drive into the Georgia pines and for the briefest of moments his lead was up to four when DeChambeau bogeyed the same hole a moment later.
McIlroy and Conners shook hands on the 18th green at the end of their rounds on Saturday
McIlroy, pictured with caddie Harry Diamond, started Saturday by carding five threes in a row
His excellent round of 66 on Saturday followed a 72 on Thursday and another 66 on Friday
So McIlroy was flying, but the resilience soon cracked. Going into the fairway bunker at the par-five eighth, and then clipping the lip on his recovery, he carded his single-stroke loss of the week.
From there he missed a great birdie chance from four feet at the ninth and bogeyed the 10th with a three-putt – his old nemesis from the 2011 collapse had struck again. Suddenly Conners and DeChambeau were just one behind.
At this stage, a familiar face appeared near the top of the leaderboard, when Shane Lowry birdied the 14th to reach seven under, but McIlroy nudged himself back to 10 under at the par-five 13th. DeChambeau’s response was to bogey the 12th.
That was an advantage to the Northern Irishman. What came at the 15th was an example of turning the screw in vicious fashion – an eagle carried him into the sky. How fitting that DeChambeau would soon fly up there to join him for a reunion.
