Rory McIlroy will take a commanding advantage into Saturday’s third round at Augusta National, with the Masters third round tee times confirming he leads the field into a pivotal day in Georgia.
Heading into moving day, the Northern Irishman surged into a six-shot lead after two rounds, the largest 36-hole margin ever recorded at the tournament. A breathtaking finish on Friday, which saw him birdie six of his final seven holes, carried him to 12-under-par and into a position of real authority as he chases back-to-back Green Jackets.
McIlroy eyes history with dominant halfway lead
McIlroy will headline the final pairing alongside American Sam Burns, with the leaders scheduled to tee off at 7.50pm UK time. Behind them, a tightly packed chasing group remains hopeful of mounting a challenge, even if the task appears steep.
Patrick Reed, a former champion at Augusta, sits six shots off the pace and remains the closest pursuer. A further stroke back are Ryder Cup stalwarts Justin Rose, Tommy Fleetwood and Shane Lowry, all tied for fourth and poised to capitalise on any slip from the leader.
Further down the leaderboard, a total of 54 players made the cut at four-over-par or better. Among them is former champion Jon Rahm, who safely progressed after a solid second-round 70.
Masters third round tee times in full with UK start schedule
With the Masters third round tee times now confirmed, fans can look ahead to a packed Saturday schedule featuring some of the biggest names in the sport.
Full third-round tee times in the UK (BST)
2.42pm
Charl Schwartzel, Rasmus Hojgaard
2.53pm
Jon Rahm, Si Woo Kim
3.04pm
Brian Harman, Corey Conners
3.15pm
Sergio Garcia, Maverick McNealy
3.26pm
Keegan Bradley, Viktor Hovland
3.37pm
Justin Thomas, Gary Woodland
3.48pm
Samuel Stevens, Adam Scott
4.10pm
Marco Penge, Matt McCarty
4.21pm
Jordan Spieth, Sepp Straka
4.32pm
Aaron Rai, Jacob Bridgeman
4.43pm
Patrick Cantlay, Sungjae Im
4.54pm
Dustin Johnson, Russell Henley
5.05pm
Harris English, Ryan Gerard
5.16pm
Ludvig Åberg, Scottie Scheffler
5.38pm
Collin Morikawa, Brian Campbell
5.49pm
Nick Taylor, Matt Fitzpatrick
6.00pm
Hideki Matsuyama, Michael Brennan
6.11pm
Jake Knapp, Xander Schauffele
6.22pm
Ben Griffin, Max Homa
6.33pm
Chris Gotterup, Brooks Koepka
6.55pm
Jason Day, Cameron Young
7.06pm
Haotong Li, Kristoffer Reitan
7.17pm
Wyndham Clark, Tyrrell Hatton
7.28pm
Shane Lowry, Tommy Fleetwood
7.39pm
Patrick Reed, Justin Rose
7.50pm
Rory McIlroy, Sam Burns
Augusta weather forecast sets up ideal scoring conditions
Warm and calm conditions expected for moving day
Players can expect near-perfect scoring conditions across the weekend at Augusta. Saturday is forecast to be sunny and hot with light winds of 3-6 mph and temperatures climbing to 29°C. Sunday looks similar, with slightly stronger 5-10 mph breezes and a high of 30°C.
With calm weather and receptive greens, the stage is set for a compelling moving day. The question now is whether anyone can reel in McIlroy or if the leader will continue his march towards history.
