LEADERBOARD -12 Rory McIlroy (tee-time 7.30)-10 Bryson DeChambeau (7.30)-8 Corey Connors (7.20)-6 Patrick Reed (7.20), Ludvig Aberg (7.10), Jason Day (7.10), Scottie Scheffler (7.00), Shane Lowry (7.00), Juston Rose (6.50) Rory McIlroy’s spine-tingling third round puts him in control of his Masters destinyRory McIlroy: ‘I’m not going to shy away from it. Situations like this are the reason I practice’The Masters Day 3 as it happened: Rory McIlroy moves two ahead at Augusta after a five star opening salvo Matsuyama’s freehweeling round comes to an end with a bogey on the final hole. That’s an annoying way to see out his tournament but he’ll sign for a 66. There’s a score out there, as the cliché goes. McIlroy will have to make sure he’s the one who finds it. Rory speaks! He spent the morning watching sport, he tells Amanda Balionis on Sky. “Fortunately, Sunday mornings are good for sport. So I watched Carlos Alcaraz win tennis in Monte Carlo, watched some soccer, watched a little bit of F1. So just tried to keep myself distracted with other sports I guess. “But then once you get to the golf course, things sort of settle down. You get into your routine, you get going, you do what’s familiar, which is comforting. That’s all I’ve been really doing, just trying to go through my strategy for the day and trying to show up with the same attitude that I’ve had for the last three days. “I’m certainly not expecting to get off to that start again (six consecutive 3s). I think it’s just going out and trying to hit the first fairway, hit the first green and go from there. I keep saying it - the only thing I can do is control the moment in front of me. That starts with the first tee shot and if I can just do a good job of controlling those moments thereafter, I’ll be in a good spot.” The career Grand Slam is such a niche golf concern - right up until the point where it becomes tanglibly possible. If McIlroy wins tonight, he will join just five other men in the history of the game to have won all four majors. You’re talking Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogna, Gary Player and Gene Sarazen. The gods of the game. Here’s how they did it. [ Rory McIlroy aims to enter golf’s pantheon: here are the five men who have won the grand slamOpens in new window ] Still a good hour away from McIlroy and DeChambeau going out on the course. Among the early starters, the only man who’s made any shape at all on the leaderboard is 2021 champion Hideki Matsuyama. He’s -6 for his round today playing the 17th. That’s enough to haul him up through the field to -2, a tie for 17th. Here we go, then. The day of days is here. Rory McIlroy is going to finally win the Masters tonight. Either that, or he is going to suffer one of the crushing disappointments of a career that hasn’t exactly been lacking them. One way or the other, it’s going to be impossible to look away. Welcome to the final round of the 2025 Masters.