It began with a dart -- a stretch that could ultimately redefine McIlroy's week and erase a horrendous 30-minute window Thursday evening where he carded two double bogeys that moved the 35-year-old from 4 under to even par, from flawless to flawed. From the first page of the leaderboard to among the masses on page Nos. 3.

At four-under heading to the 15th tee on Thursday, McIlroy looked poised to make another run at his first green jacket and career grand slam. Then the World No. 2 proceeded to double bogey two of his last four holes,

"I played really good golf (Thursday) and I wasn't going to let two bad holes sort of dictate the narrative for the rest of the week," McIlroy said.

The first page of the 89th Masters leaderboard is simply phenomenal, and there's every chance for it to live up to its billing

A day after his opening round went with two back-nine double bogeys, the fan favorite shot 5 under after the turn on Friday.

We are in for an amazing finish at Augusta National this weekend after a second round that saw Rory McIlroy and Bryson Dechambeau climb the leaderboard.

On Friday, there were far different results on Augusta’s risk-reward par 5s. At 13, McIlroy notched his first eagle of the week after hitting his approach from the pine straw to nine feet, and he got his revenge at 15 with a 220-yard iron approach and two-putt from 85 feet.

McIlroy was sailing along on Thursday until disaster struck once again. Michael Rosenberg says McIlroy needs to stop treating the Masters like any other tournament.