Conventional wisdom holds that you can’t win a golf tournament in the first two rounds, only lose it.
Rory McIlroy is putting that to the test at the 2026 Masters, as the Northern Irishman has opened up a six-stroke lead heading into moving day after following up a first-round 67 with a second-round 65, putting him at 12-under through two rounds.
That’s six strokes ahead of Patrick Reed and Sam Burns − a major tournament record lead through two rounds − as McIlroy looks to defend his title. He’s an extraordinary -250 favorite to do that before the third round tees off Friday morning.
Masters leaderboard
Masters third round tees times
7:31 a.m. – Kurt Kitayama, Alex Noren
7:42 a.m. – Charl Schwartzel, Rasmus Højgaard
7:53 a.m. – Jon Rahm, Si Woo Kim
8:04 a.m. – Brian Harman, Corey Conners
8:15 a.m. – Sergio Garcia, Maverick McNealy
8:26 a.m. – Keegan Bradley, Viktor Hovland
8:37 a.m. – Justin Thomas, Gary Woodland
8:48 a.m. – Samuel Stevens, Adam Scott
9:10 a.m. – Marco Penge, Matt McCarty
9:21 a.m. – Jordan Spieth, Sepp Straka
9:32 a.m. – Aaron Rai, Jacob Bridgeman
9:43 a.m. – Patrick Cantlay, Sungjae Im
9:54 a.m. – Dustin Johnson, Russell Henley
10:05 a.m. – Harris English, Ryan Gerard
10:16 a.m. – Ludvig Åberg, Scottie Scheffler
10:38 a.m. – Collin Morikawa, Brian Campbell
10:49 a.m. – Nick Taylor, Matt Fitzpatrick
11 a.m. – Hideki Matsuyama, Michael Brennan
11:11 a.m. – Jake Knapp, Xander Schauffele
11:22 a.m. – Ben Griffin, Max Homa
11:33 a.m. – Chris Gotterup, Brooks Koepka
11:55 a.m. – Jason Day, Cameron Young
12:06 p.m. – Haotong Li, Kristoffer Reitan
12:17 p.m. – Wyndham Clark, Tyrrell Hatton
12:28 p.m. – Shane Lowry, Tommy Fleetwood
12:39 p.m. – Patrick Reed, Justin Rose
12:50 p.m. – Rory McIlroy, Sam Burns
How to watch the second round of the Masters
Round 3: Saturday, April 11
Masters TV schedule
The 2026 Masters golf championship will be broadcast live on CBS and ESPN, with coverage also on Paramount+ and Masters.com streaming.
Round 3: Saturday, April 11
Round 4: Sunday, June 15
Who made the cut at the Masters?
The cut was the top 50 golfers (out of an original field of 91) plus ties. That ended up being +4, as there was an eight-way tie for 47th. That means 54 golfers made the cut.
2026 Masters Cut List (54 Players)
Rory McIlroy
The 36-year-old Northern Irishman has a career grand slam, which he completed last year when he won the Masters as his fifth major title. He won the US Open in 2011, the PGA Championship in 2012 and ‘14, the British Open in 2014, then the Masters last year after an 11-year title drought.
Has Patrick Reed won the Masters
Patrick Reed’s only major victory was the 2018 Masters. He currently sits second at -6, which is the good news. He is six strokes back of McIlroy, which is the bad news.
Mason Howell age
Mason Howell, the defending champion in the US Amateur, is 18-years old. He will golf for the University of Georgia
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on X.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Who made the cut at the 2026 Masters? Leaderboard, how to watch
Reporting by Bret Bloomquist, El Paso Times / El Paso Times
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
