Rory McIlroy carried a four-stroke lead into Sunday's final round of the 75th Masters, the 21-year-old Northern Irish prodigy on the verge on his first major title and a wire-to-wire victory.
McIlroy, in only his 10th major tournament, has been poised under pressure, surrendering only two bogeys through 54 holes to stand on 12-under par 204, four strokes ahead of K.J. Choi, Angel Cabrera, Jason Day and Charl Schwartzel.
It's the largest Masters lead since Tiger Woods opened a nine-stroke edge on the field on his way to winning his first major title in 1997 by a record 12 strokes, a victory that helped inspire a young McIlroy to play golf. "It feels good," McIlroy said. "I'm not getting ahead of myself. I know how leads can dwindle away quickly. I have to go out there, not take anything for granted and play as hard as I have the last three days.
"If I can do that, hopefully things will go my way." McIlroy already has three third-place showings in majors, including the 2009 and 2010 PGA Championships and last year's British Open, where the Ulsterman matched the record low score in any major with a 63 only to follow with an 80 at wind-swept St. Andrews.