McIlroy locked with Young after blowing historic lead at The Masters

Rory McIlroy squandered a historic six-shot lead to leave him level with Cameron Young heading into the final day of a dramatic title defence at The Masters.

McIlroy took the biggest 36-hole lead in tournament history into the weekend at Augusta National, only to see his hopes of joining Jack Nicklaus, Sir Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods as a back-to-back champion suffer a sizeable setback in a remarkable Saturday.

The world No 2 blew the tournament wide open when he made a slow start to his third round and dropped three shots in two holes around the iconic Amen Corner, as Young charged from eight behind to grab the clubhouse lead with a stunning seven-under 65.

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McIlroy responded with back-to-back birdies from the 14th but bogeyed his penultimate hole, pulling him back alongside Young on 11 under after a third-round 73, with Sam Burns a shot off the pace in third ahead of Shane Lowry.

Lowry fired a hole-in-one during a third-round 68 and is one of eight players within four strokes of the lead, with last year's runner-up Justin Rose sharing fifth place with Jason Day as world No 1 Scottie Scheffler charged back into contention by matching Young's 65.

Young pulls level with McIlroy in sensational Saturday

McIlroy immediately lost ground with a two-shot swing at the first, making bogey as playing partner Burns posted a birdie-birdie start, while Reed opened with three consecutive birdies to quickly cut the advantage to two.

Momentum went back McIlroy's way when driving the green at the par-four third set up a two-putt birdie, which lifted him four ahead when Reed failed to get up and down from the sand and carded the first of successive bogeys.

Lowry jumped into the group tied-second after firing a hole-in-one at the par-three sixth, with Li the next to push after following three birdies in a four-hole stretch with a tap-in eagle at the par-five eighth.

McIlroy scrambled pars on the fourth, sixth and seventh then failed to birdie the par-five eighth, as Young - playing five groups ahead - closed by reaching the turn in 32 and starting his second nine with a birdie.

Young posted back-to-back birdies from 13th but sent a wedge into the water on his way to a bogey at the par-five 15th, as McIlroy started his second nine with a birdie before finding water with his approach into the par-four 11th.

McIlroy followed his first double-bogey of the week with another dropped shot at the par-three 12th, giving Young the outright advantage for the first time when he drained a 25-foot birdie at the 16th to get to 11 under.

Burns was also within one until McIlroy, who birdied six of his last seven holes on Friday, poured in from 20 feet at the 14th and two-putted from a similar distance at the next to edge back one ahead.

McIlroy safely negotiated the par-three 16th but missed the green from the trees at the par-four next, resulting in a bogey to slip back alongside Young, with the pair set to go out together in the final group on Sunday.

More to follow..

How can I watch the final day of The Masters?

Live coverage of the final round begins at 4.30pm on Sunday on Sky Sports Golf, ahead of full coverage getting under way at 5pm and running until long after the final putt has been holed.

The notorious Amen Corner stream will also be available, focusing on the famous three-hole stretch from the 11th, with that Featured Group offering available on the Sky Sports+ channel.

A feed of the fourth, fifth and sixth holes will go live each day as soon as the opening group reach that part of the course and another stream covers the 15th and 16th holes, with Featured Groups also available on Sky Sports+.

Can McIlroy close out victory at The Masters? Watch the final round live on Sunday from 4.30pm on Sky Sports Golf, with extra coverage on Sky Sports+. Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract.