The Masters Tonight - Friday: Magnificent McIlroy builds largest 36-hole lead ever at Augusta

Reports suggest that Artemis II passed Rory's golf on the way back into the earth, because it has been out of this world at Augusta National. The crew from the United States and Canada are set to splashdown in the Pacific Ocean over the next couple of hours, and return to earth just in time to watch Rory McIlroy march towards a sixth Major title, and second consecutive Masters.

NASA's Astronauts have been on a 10-day mission to the Moon, but the breathtaking sights they have seen may not surpass what we witnessed in Georgia on Friday afternoon.

Rory McIlroy has been like a caged Tiger released at Augusta over the first two days, and his play and the results so far bare close comparison to another Tiger. The Northern Irishman started on fire, making birdies at the 2nd, 3rd and 4th holes to open a 2-shot lead, before sloppy mistakes and missed opportunities saw him fall back into a tie with Patrick Reed on 6-under-par through 11 holes.

Then the 'Tiger roared' making 6 birdies in the final 7 holes to open up a historic 6-shot margin over the rest through 36-holes, the biggest lead at this stage ever. McIlroy will head into the weekend on the same score that Greg Norman was on at this stage 30 years ago, and will be hoping that the leader does not have the same outcome as that week. Rory's lead is his biggest through 36 holes of any Major Championship, and it is also tied for the third-largest 36-hole lead in major championship history, trailing only Henry Cotton's nine-shot lead at The Open in 1934 and Brooks Koepka's seven-shot lead at the PGA Championship in 2019.

Sam Burns and Patrick Reed will begin Saturday six shots back, and fellow European Ryder Cup star Tommy Fleetwood is seven shots adrift, but some major stars will not be in Augusta this weekend, none more notable than Bryson DeChambeau.

The winner of back-to-back events on LIV Golf managed to get back to +3 heading up the final hole, but made a catastrophic treble-bogey seven to miss the cut by two shots. Robert MacIntyre also crashed out, shooting 7-over-par for the first two rounds, and mocked himself on social media following the round.

As with every other tournament though, the story is about the leader and those in contention, and make no mistake, that story is about Rory as we head towards Saturday at the 90th Masters. 60 years ago in 1966, Jack Nicklaus won his sixth Major title, at Augusta in The 30th Masters. 30 years ago in 1996, Nick Faldo won his sixth Major title, at Augusta in the 60th Masters. This weekend Rory McIlroy will have a golden opportunity to claim his sixth Major title, in the 90th Masters, and join those two legends, and Tiger Woods as the fourth player to successfully defend the Green Jacket.

He has already produced memorable moments in this tournament, especially on Friday with his spectacular pitch for birdie at the 17th. More memorable moments are set to be created over this weekend.

SHANK's The Masters Tonight returns on Saturday evening, rounding up the third round and looking ahead to a full day of content on Masters Sunday.

SHANK, by Matt Hooper