Rory McIlroy enjoyed a dream day two at The Masters, storming to a six-shot lead at Augusta National.
McIlroy is seeking to defend his title and retain his green jacket, which he secured last year after a playoff victory over Justin Rose.
Only three players have successfully defended their title at The Masters, with Jack Nicklaus, Sir Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods achieving the feat.
Now looking to follow in their footsteps is the current leader, who Paul McGinley claims is very different to the three former champions at Augusta.
Rory McIlroy claimed to have a different personality from Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus
After McIlroy followed his first round 67 with a second round 65, McGinley said on Golf Channel: “Who is to know that the Rory McIlroy plateau was being a Grand Slam winner? Who made that rule? And that’s what he’s thrown away.
“He said ‘that’s not my plateau, I’ve got another mountain to climb’, and that’s the key more than anything else of the greats in the game. There’s always another level that inspires them and gets them excited to go out.
“And you know the old saying, proverbial, this is a great line, ‘it’s hard to get out of bed wearing silk pyjamas’.
“When you scale such great, great heights, and it is, you’ve got your silk pyjamas, all these players do here now, particularly somebody who’s won a Grand Slam.
“To come out again and be refreshed and inspired and come here, embrace all the obligations that he’s done, the way he has, with a smile this week.
“There’s never been, ‘oh no I have to do this’. He’s enjoyed every moment of it. And to take that and move forward.
“Remember the three previous winners who have defended around here – Nick Faldo, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods – very, very different personalities.
“Very focused personalities that went out and defended in a very stoic kind of way. Rory’s done it in a different way. He’s a different personality than any of those three.
“And that’s what is somewhat surprising for me, that he’s been able to embrace all of that and still come out here and have the focus, inspirational play that we’ve seen over the last few days.
“There’s no doubt the golfing gods are shining on him. There’s no doubt. The first two days, a lot of good things have happened to Rory.
“As badly as he’s driven it, he always seems to have a shot. He’d be able to hack it out and work his way around there. And as I say, he gets on that roll. There’s nobody better in the game when they get on the roll.
“Things start going good, momentum is behind them, the wind is in their sails. There’s nobody better at riding that wave like a surfer than Rory McIlroy.”
Rory McIlroy’s 36-hole scoring stats at The Masters
McIlroy has enjoyed a remarkable week at The Masters so far, ranking second-to-last in the entire field for driving accuracy.
But he’s managed to pull off escape after escape to soar to the very top of the leaderboard, much to the delight of many patrons at Augusta.
Whether or not he can continue to ride the wave remains to be seen, but his comfortable lead and the fact that he won the tournament last year suggest another success is very much on the cards.
If he does manage to successfully defend his title, he’d be emulating Nicklaus from 1966, Faldo from 1990 and Woods from 2002.
The Northern Irishman is last out alongside Sam Burns in round three, with the American and his compatriot Patrick Reed a huge six shots off the lead.
It’s been a commanding display from the green jacket holder from start to finish, with McIlroy leading the entire field for birdies.
He has posted 15 from his 36 holes so far, along with 18 pars, for which he ranks T47, and just three bogeys, ranking T2.
While stranger things have happened at major championships, McIlroy will be hugely disappointed if he blows his six-shot lead at the halfway stage, which is a record at The Masters.
Read more:
Rory McIlroy reveals his game plan for the weekend after building a six-stroke lead at The Masters
Tiger Woods’ new Official World Golf Ranking confirmed as he misses The Masters
