Reigning Masters winner Rory McIlroy admitted to Amanda Balionis that he’s trying to block out distractions before the Northern Irish golfer got off to a poor start on Saturday at Augusta
Amanda Balionis interview Rory McIlroy ahead of Round Three at the Masters(Image: X/CBS)
Rory McIlroy seemed poised to run away with his second consecutive Masters Tournament in 2026, racing to 12-under and a six-stroke lead with strong second round.
Ahead of the third round on Saturday, McIlroy spoke with CBS’s Amanda Balionis and expressed calm, emphasizing that he’s staying in his “own little world” to block out any outside noise or pressure.
“I just have to stay in my own little world today and tomorrow. I know that the game is there, it’s just a matter of managing myself and making the right decisions when I need to,” the 2025 Masters champion told Balionis.
McIlroy seemed untouchable on Friday, closing the second round with six birdies in his final seven holes as part of a dominant second round.
Saturday couldn’t have gone any differently for the Northern Irish golfer. McIlroy shot a 2-over through 12 holes, typified by an embarrassing double bogey on the tricky 11th.
McIlroy’s six-stroke lead over the chasing pack of Jason Day and Patrick Reed evaporated into a one-stroke deficit to the 28-year-old Cameron Young, a decorated young golfer still chasing his first major.
Young’s 2026 Masters showing started slowly: he was just 1-over after Thursday and sat at even through 11 holes in the second round. Then, he rolled off four birdies into a row to crawl into the top of the leaderboard.:
On Saturday, Young was even better: he birdies four times on the front nine and sat at 7-under on the day through 17 holes, helping him leap over McIlroy.
The Wake Forest product who was the 2021-22 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, Young has a number of major tournament near-misses. He finished in second at the 2022 Open Championship (his debut), tied for third at the 2022 PGA Championship (also his debut), and tied for fourth at the 2025 US Open.
Young already as a pair of top-10 finishes at the Masters, finishing tied for seventh in 2023 and tied for ninth in 2024. He missed the cut last year as McIlroy won the tournament.
The Northern Irish star refused to admit during his post-Friday presser that he was resting on his big lead. “Look, Iâve built up a nice cushion at this point. I guess my mindset is just trying to keep playing well and keeping my foot on the gas,” he said.
McIlroy also shared that he was trying to stay distracted. “Thereâs actually two really good semifinals at Monte Carlo in the tennis. So Iâll watch that,” he said. “Weâve been watching the tennis early in the mornings.”
