Rory McIlroy shot a four-under-par sixty eight to make great strides up the leaderboard in the Masters, though had it not been for two late bogeys the round could have been so much better.
The world number one began the day twelve shots behind leader Jordan Spieth but started well. A solid par at the first was followed up by an eagle; a huge drive set him up for a 37-foot putt, which he duly holed to give himself a platform to build off of.
McIlroy then saved par after a ropey tee shot at four, before missing a thirteen-footer for birdie on the fifth. Another two pars followed and then a missed eagle chance on eight, although the initial putt set him up for another easy birdie.
A further birdie followed at nine; the Northern Irishman had gone round in 32 strokes and, at that stage, had closed the gap on Spieth to eight. Another par was banked at 10, in what was looking to be a very promising run round Augusta.
Amen Corner was next and Mcllroy negotiated it well. It could have been much better, though, had his approach to the eleventh not been followed by a very poor birdie putt. He tapped in there and managed par at twelve, before birdying the par-five thirteenth.
Par on fourteen and a birdie on fifteen had the 25-year-old at eight-under, seven behind Spieth who'd knocked in only his second bogey of the week. A lacklustre tee shot on sixteen cost him dearly and he wasn't able to get up-and-down for par.
Seventeen yielded par once more but his putt for a four at the last caught the lip but didn't find the hole. Finishing with a 68 represented a good day, although those final two bogeys in the last three holes took the shine off an otherwise excellent round.
McIlroy will have to hope for a Spieth-Mickelson-Hoffmann collapse to have any chance of claiming his first Green Jacket and an historic Grand Slam. He will, however, take great heart from the rest of his round and will look to make another assault on the leaders come Sunday afternoon.