dailyloe.com – Greg Norman’s 1996 Masters collapse looms large as Rory McIlroy holds a six-shot lead at Augusta National this weekend. Norman led by six strokes after 54 holes that year but shot a final-round 78 to lose by five to Nick Faldo. McIlroy, the defending champion, leads Patrick Reed and Sam Burns by six shots after two rounds. The tournament questions whether this lead is bulletproof.
Norman will be at the Masters in spirit, not in body, this weekend. His last appearance was two years ago as a patron cheering his LIV Golf players. He was the CEO of the golf league then, with Patrick Reed as one of his star golfers. Rory McIlroy was a nemesis who often criticized Norman and LIV Golf.
In the 1996 final round, Norman played with closest pursuer Nick Faldo. He struggled mightily through the Clubhouse Turn, making bogeys on holes 9, 10, and 11. The Englishman shot a 67 to Norman’s 78, an 11-shot swing. The last three holes felt more like a winter funeral than a springtime golf tournament.
Now McIlroy has a six-shot lead over his two closest pursuers. One is Reed, the 2018 Masters winner and a former LIV golfer rejoining the PGA Tour. The other is Sam Burns, who is looking to win his first major title. McIlroy is 12 under through two rounds.
There is a theory that winning a second green jacket is easier than a first. Having one grants entry to the Tuesday Night Supper Club forever and secures golfing immortality. Playing with that security allows a golfer to swing freely and pile on success.
If that theory holds, only Reed and McIlroy matter among those under par. They are the only two former Masters winners currently under par. Reed is at six under, and Justin Rose, last year’s runner-up, is at five under.
Reed and Rose are scheduled to tee off at 2:40 p.m. on Saturday. McIlroy goes off with Burns at 2:50 p.m. the same day. Everyone is asking if McIlroy can do anything other than win this Masters.
The central question remains whether a six-shot lead is bulletproof. It is six, not nine, which was Tiger Woods’s 54-hole lead in 1997. It is also six, not four, which was McIlroy’s lead through 54 holes in 2011.[]
Source: GOLF.com
