By Frank Pingue
AUGUSTA, Georgia, April 12 (Reuters) – Overnight co-leaders Rory McIlroy and Cameron Young opened the final round of the Masters with matching pars on Sunday as a star-studded chasing pack immediately set about making life uncomfortable for the front two.
World number two McIlroy left his birdie putt from 11 feet short at the par-four first while Young found a bunker off the tee but escaped without damage. Behind them, the pursuit was already on.
Sam Burns, one shot back at the start of play, birdied the opening hole to draw level with the leaders.
Scottie Scheffler, a four-time major champion who has won two of the last four Masters and started the day four shots back, birdied two of his first three holes to close to within two of the lead.
Justin Rose, a three-times Masters runner-up who lost in a playoff last year, came out swinging with a chip-in birdie at the opening hole to get within two and serve notice he would not go quietly.
The grouping of McIlroy and Young marks just the second time the final pairing on Masters Sunday has featured at least two of the top three players in the Official World Golf Ranking.
For McIlroy, who last year became the sixth man to complete the career Grand Slam with his Masters triumph, the magnitude of what awaits him over the remaining 17 holes is almost without parallel.
Victory would make him only the fourth repeat Masters champion and the first since Tiger Woods claimed back-to-back titles in 2001 and 2002. He has led or co-led after every round this week — only three players have gone wire-to-wire at Augusta in the past 45 years, the most recent being Dustin Johnson in 2020.
Young arrives at the final round one month removed from his one-shot triumph at The Players Championship, the most prestigious event outside the four majors, and is now 18 holes from the biggest victory of his career.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Augusta, Georgia, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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