Rory McIlroy uses late birdie blitz to lead Masters by 6

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Rory McIlroy's quest to become only the fourth player to win consecutive Masters might have turned into a 36-hole march toward history thanks to a late birdie binge on Friday that gave him a six-shot lead heading into the weekend at Augusta National.

McIlroy carded six birdies over his final seven holes -- including a chip-in from 29 yards on No. 17 -- to shoot a 7-under-par 65 and sit at 12 under halfway through the 90th Masters. It's a shot better than the score McIlroy finished 72 holes with before winning his first green jacket in a playoff 12 months ago.

The Northern Irishman will be paired in Saturday's final group with Sam Burns, who shared the 18-hole lead with McIlroy at 5 under. Burns also took advantage of a back nine at Augusta National that gave way to unexpectedly low scores Friday, closing with three birdies over his final four holes to get under par for the day with a 71. He was the first to reach the clubhouse at 6 under.

Burns moved into the final pairing when Patrick Reed's 6-foot par putt on the 18th hole slid left of the cup. That left the 2018 Masters champion with matching 69s to sit at 6 under for the tournament. Reed briefly tied the lead with a birdie on the 12th to reach 6 with McIlroy bogeying the 10th two holes behind him.

Reed would eventually reach 7 under before the dropped shot at 18, while McIlroy was in the midst of his birdie binge. Reed will now be paired on Saturday with England's Justin Rose, who was the first of three players to reach the clubhouse at 5 under on Friday.

For a while, it appeared Rose might be set up for a Saturday pairing with McIlroy 12 months after their dramatic playoff showdown at Augusta National. Rose first reached 5 under with a birdie on the 11th hole before immediately giving it back on the 12th. He battled back with a birdie on the 15th and parred out from there.

England's Tommy Fleetwood and Ireland's Shane Lowry are also at 5 under and will be paired on Saturday. Another shot back is Tyrrell Hatton, who set the tone for the lower-than-expected scoring in the second round by posting a 6-under 66. He is at 4 under along with Wyndham Clark, Cameron Young, Australia's Jason Day, China's Haotong Li and Kristoffer Reitan, only the second Norwegian to compete in the Masters.

"This is my best start thus far at Augusta and I'm just really excited to be in this position," said Clark, whose only other sub-par score in seven previous rounds at the Masters was also a 68 in last year's second round. "This morning kind of throughout the whole day wasn't as firm as yesterday. I know we went off in the morning, typically it's softer.

"I think as the tournament goes on, I mean, these greens are going to be concrete. Obviously getting really fast without the wind, so it's going to really matter hitting it in the fairway and the angles and being patient."

The extremely difficult conditions predicted by many players after scores rose throughout Thursday's first round never materialized on Friday.

Scottie Scheffler, who was unable to capitalize on the conditions, said he expects Augusta National's teeth to return for the weekend. The two-time Masters champion and World No. 1 struggled to a 74 that left him at even par for the tournament and 12 shots off McIlroy's lead.

"I felt like the greens would get firmer as the week went on, but I think they may have saw how difficult it was late in the day yesterday," Scheffler said. "It felt like they softened them up a bit today, but I couldn't imagine them doing that the rest of the weekend."

McIlroy is attempting to become only the fourth player in history to win consecutive Masters. If successful, he would join Jack Nicklaus in 1965-66, Nick Faldo in 1989-1990 and Tiger Woods in 2001-02. Only 18 players have won multiple Masters titles at any point in their careers.

--Derek Harper, Field Level Media