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2026 Masters News, Scores and Live Updates: Rory McIlroy Peels Away From Pack With Commanding Lead
The 2026 Masters continued Saturday with the third round taking place at Augusta. As things stand, Rory McIlroy is poised to defend his title following his brilliant second round that saw him take a dominant lead at the top of the leaderboard.
The Irishman birdied six of his last seven holes Friday and currently holds a six-shot lead over Sam Burns and Patrick Reed at 12 under, good for the largest 36-hole lead in tournament history. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler hasn’t been having as good of a time on the greens and finished 2 over par in the second round, putting him in a tie for 24th place and 12 strokes behind McIlroy.
Catch all the latest news and updates from the third round of the Masters in Sports Illustrated’s live blog below.
2026 Masters Live Scores and Updates: Rory McIlroy on top heading into third round
More Masters coverage from Sports Illustrated
Kristen Wong is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. She has been a sports journalist since 2020 and has a bachelor’s in English and linguistics from Columbia University. Before joining SI in November 2023, Wong covered four NFL teams as an associate editor with the FanSided NFL network and worked as a staff writer for the brand’s flagship site. She is a lifelong Liverpool fan who enjoys solving crossword puzzles and hanging out at her neighborhood dive bar in NYC.