Rory McIlroy leads heading into final round

Rory McIlroy will take a two-shot lead into the final round of The Masters as he bids to complete the career Grand Slam.

The Northern Irishman made an electrifying start at Augusta National, becoming the first player to make a three on the opening six holes as he swiftly moved into the lead.

A second eagle of the day sent the World Number Two four clear at one stage but Bryson DeChambeau finished strongly to close the gap to two, with the pair set to renew rivalries following their thrilling U.S. Open showdown at Pinehurst last year, when the American came out on top.

A 66 saw McIlroy reach 12 under, with DeChambeau his nearest challenger after holing a lengthy birdie putt on the last to complete his own six-under round. Corey Conners sits third on eight under after a round of 70.

After birdieing the first, a chip-in eagle on the second gave McIlroy the lead for the first time this week and, after his stunning run of threes ended with a well-rescued par following a wayward drive at the seventh, he was four clear of DeChambeau.

He dropped his first shot of the day at the par-five eighth after driving into a bunker, catching the lip with his second and pulling his third left of the green, while DeChambeau birdied the same hole to close within two.

McIlroy dropped another shot on the tenth, with DeChambeau and Conners one back at that stage.

DeChambeau bogeyed the 12th after finding the front bunker, as McIlroy made an up-and-down from behind the 13th for birdie.

McIlroy hit an imperious six-iron to six feet at the 15th and made the eagle putt to go four clear, but DeChambeau kept the pressure on with a tap-in gain at the 16th before holing from across the green at the last.

“Obviously it was a dream start to get off to the start that I did,” said McIlroy, who revealed he had spent Saturday morning watching the film Zootopia with his daughter Poppy. “Hit two perfect shots on one and converted, felt like I hit three perfect shots on two, three perfect shots on three.

“It was such a great way to start, and just to come out of the blocks like that, I think, as well, from finishing yesterday afternoon to teeing off today, it's quite a long time. You know, there's a lot of anticipation and sort of anxious energy that builds up. You just want to get out there and play.

“With all of that, to go out and start the way I did, was amazing.

“I had that little bit of a wobble around the turn there with the bogey on eight, the missed chance on nine and then the three-putt on ten.

“I thought that the par putt on 11 was huge, just to sort of get some momentum back.

“To get through 11 and 12 at even par was great. And then all I was trying to do then was take advantage of the par-fives coming in, and thankfully I was able to do that.”