With a forecast of warm and dry weather all week at Augusta National, the expectation was firm and fast greens would lead to difficult scoring conditions – McIlroy said he thought the winning score would not reach double digits under par.
There was also a perception the officials in charge of the course set-up would be delighted with the prospect.
However, their decision to water the greens each morning – softening them for the following day – has made scoring easier as the week has gone on.
That has not been a popular decision with the purists, who have accused the Masters of also going soft.
There is no doubt making things more scoreable has led to an entertaining spectacle as the pack hunted down McIlroy.
World number one Scottie Scheffler was the first player to really take advantage as he threatened to challenge the course record of 63 – jointly held by Nick Price (1986) and Greg Norman (1986) – with a blistering front nine.
The two-time champion, who won in 2022 and 2024, ultimately fell short and signed for a career-best 65, which put him back into contention, at four off the pace, after he maintained a recent trend of making slow starts.
Eventual co-leader Young also gave Price and Norman cause for concern when he reached seven under after 14 holes.
The 28-year-old American’s momentum was stalled by a bogey on 15 – which would have been worse had he not pitched close with his fourth after finding the water – but he recovered to birdie 16 and match Scheffler’s low round of the day.