Nina's Sports Bad Boys Blog World: Rory McIlroy stays cool on hot day, retains lead at Masters

AUGUSTA, Ga. � At one point Saturday, Rory McIlroy dropped into a three-way tie for the Masters lead. But the baby-faced 21-year-old from Northern Ireland never flinched, pumped his fist after a huge putt on No. 17 and finished with a four-stroke lead going into Sunday's final round.

By Jack Gruber, USA TODAY

Rory McIlroy, making his way onto the green at the second hole, has held the Masters' lead after each of the first three rounds.

By Jack Gruber, USA TODAY

Rory McIlroy, making his way onto the green at the second hole, has held the Masters' lead after each of the first three rounds.

"Feels nice. It feels good. I'm not getting ahead of myself," McIlroy said. "I know how leads can dwindle away very quickly. I have to go out there (Sunday) and not take anything for granted."

He began the day two strokes up at 10-under. His 2-under 70 Saturday didn't match the 65 and 69 he posted in two previous rounds. But it was good enough to put him at 12 under, double the margin of his lead and put him a round away from establishing himself as the face of golf's future.

An anticipated duel between McIlroy and Tiger Woods never materialized on a muggy, sweltering Saturday. Woods, winner of four Masters and 14 majors, started the day at 7 under and finished at 5 under after a frustrating 2-over 74.

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Woods wasn't competition for McIlroy on Saturday, but he was inspiration to him as a youngster in 1997. That was the year Woods won his first Masters at 21.

"I remember watching with my dad," McIlroy said. "That's when Tiger grabbed all of our imaginations and won it by 12 and broke so many records."

Bidding to become the first European to win the Masters since Jose Maria Olazabel in 1999, McIlroy will be in the final pairing Sunday with 41-year-old Angel Cabrera of Argentina.

Cabrera, 2009 Masters champion, made a big move on moving day with a 5-under 67 that got him to 8 under overall.

In 19 of the past 20 Masters, the winner of the green jacket has come from the final pairing. The lone exception was in 2007 when champion Zach Johnson was fourth after three rounds.

But the scoreboard, not history, will decide the winner, and at the end of play Saturday there were seven players bunched within six shots of McIlroy.

In a four-way tie with Cabrera at 8 under were Charl Schwartzel of South Africa, K.J. Choi of South Korea and McIloroy's 23-year-old playing partner for all three rounds, Jason Day of Australia.

Adam Scott of Australia and Luke Donald of England were at 7 under, followed by Bo Van Pelt of Tulsa 6 six under. Van Pelt is the low American.

After sharing the opening-round lead with a 65, McIlroy's test was to hold steady in round two Friday. That's something he didn't do last year at the British Open, when he followed an opening 63 with an 80.

He responded with a 69 Friday, then took the course Saturday with the looming presence of Woods three strokes behind him.

With a bogey on the par No. 10 Saturday, McIlroy dropped into a three-way tie at 9 under with Day and Choi.

But on No. 13, a birdie by McIlroy and a bogey by Day restored McIlroy's two-stroke lead at 10 under.

On the par-5 15th, another birdie put McIlroy at 11 under. Day birdied the hole, too, to stay two back at 9 under.

On No. 16, another bogey by Day and a par by McIlroy's expanded McIlroy's lead to three.

On No. 17, McIlroy holed a birdie putt that could become one of the signature moments of his first major title.

The slow roller dropped into the hole from about 33 feet away. McIlroy celebrated with multiple fist pumps as his hold on first expanded to four strokes and the crowd roared.

"Hit the putt perfectly where I lined it up," McIlroy said. "It was great because I had been waiting on a putt to sort of drop all day. And for it to drop there, it was great timing."

Friday, Woods birdied seven of his last 11 holes en route to a 66 that put him right back in the mix. It wasn't happening for him Saturday.

"The way he played the last nine holes (Friday), you would expect him to come out and play well," McIlroy said. "Sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn't."

On the par-4 11th, Woods lipped a putt from about 3 feet for a three-putt bogey.

On the par-5 15th, Woods played a big hook over a pond that put him on the green in two. But he three-putted for par.

"I hit just a lot of beautiful putts that didn't go in," Woods said. "Could have easily been 3, 4 or 5 under par."

That left him with considerable catching up to do.

"I got to go out there and put together a good round (Sunday) and see what happens," said Woods, who has not won a major since the U.S. Open in 2008.

Saturday wasn't moving day either for Phil Mickelson, three-time winner and defending champion at the Masters.

Mickelson began the day at 2 under. He shot a 1 -under 71 Saturday to get to 3 under.

'Well, I'm going to be quite a few back, but a lot can happen," Mickelson said. "I'm not going to count myself out."

It definitely was moving day for Cabrera, who started play Saturday at a quiet 3 under. He made a steady climb all day, dropping a stroke only with a bogey on No. 10, to get to 8 under for the tournament.

No, Cabrera didn't come here confident he would be 8 under into the final round.

"Sincerely, no. ? But now that I see that I'm playing well, I sure think I can do it," he said.

So does McIlroy.

"A win for me, personally, it would be huge," he said. "And for the game of golf, it would be nice as well. It would be nice to get a major early (in his career) and show some of the young guys that it is possible.

"But as I said, we'll see what happens (Sunday) because four shots on this golf course isn't that much."

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