'I've shot 12-under but it hasn't all been amazing' - McIlroy's ominous message after stunning Masters start

Gavin Cooney reports from Augusta National Golf Club

RORY MCILROY SAYS he will not defend but attack his historic six-shot lead at the Masters. 

McIlroy’s audacious finish to his second round – in which he reeled off six birdies across his last seven holes to card a seven-under 65 – means he leads Sam Burns and Patrick Reed by six shots, the biggest 36-hole lead in the competition’s history. 

Asked at his post-round press conference as to what his attitude is tomorrow, McIlroy said, “Don’t protect it. Go out and play freely, keep swinging. That was a big part of the lesson from the 2011 Masters to the 2011 U.S. Open: don’t get protective. Go out there and keep playing, keep trying to make birdies, stay as trusting and as committed as possible.” 

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McIlroy attributed his stunning performance to the quality of his wedges and his work around the green, as he continued to be inaccurate off the tee: McIlroy is remarkably second-last across the 91-player field for driving accuracy this week. 

But these qualities of his game along with the serenity earned by finally winning the Masters last year has allowed him overwhelm the field across the first two days’ play. 

“Even going back to my first year here in 2009, I shot 30 on the back nine on Sunday”, he said. “So I’ve always had the ability to go on these runs. But I think it was getting to the point where I would allow myself to play the course the way that I knew that I could. So it was getting past myself. It was staying aggressive. Like my little mantra to myself today was keep swinging, keep swinging hard at it even if you’re not hitting fairways, just keep swinging.

“Over the years this golf course is sometimes, you know, my mindset hasn’t been keep swinging. It’s been guided, tentative. I think the experience I’ve accrued over the years and obviously with what happened last year, it makes it a bit easier out there to keep swinging.” 

McIlroy has thus far made birdie on all but one of the par-fives across his first two rounds, in spite of not hitting any of their fairways and reaching only one of them in two. When these stats were put to McIlroy, he attributed his scoring to “becoming a wily old veteran. 

“Even go back to the final round in 2011, hitting it in that bunker off the tee at the 2nd hole and not panicking, but thinking, ‘Oh, this isn’t good. I can’t go for this in two.

“I walk up there today, and it’s like, ‘No, I lay it up to a good number, and I’ll have a good chance to make a birdie.’ There’s so many different ways to skin a cat. I’ve shot 12-under par for the first two rounds here. I’ve played well, I’ve hit good shots, but it hasn’t all been amazing. I’ve relied on my short game when I’ve needed it, and I’ve certainly hit enough good wedges into those par-5s to build the score that I have.”