Rory McIlroy followed the worst first round of the Masters – and then revealed how a “colorful” pep talk led to a change of fortune.

McIlroy’s 75 was the worst in 12 Masters matches. But that left him in a fight to make the cut, but he jumped in style with 66 runs in the second round without a boogie. Six shots from the cloudhouse lead ended in a draw.

“Jimmy gave me a speech between the two going to the range,” McIlroy said, referring to his friend and Augusta national member Jimmy Dunn.

“I’m honestly playing very well here, and then I’m going to the first round and shooting 75, ‘I’ll get the hell out of here.’

“I know it’s there, I just need to believe a little more and make a commitment. Good afternoon this afternoon.”

When asked to describe Pep Talk, McIlroy joked: “It was colorful.

“I think I’ve had my eye on the last 18 holes. I need a few more days on the weekend to give it a chance.”

Shane Lori (through 10) and Graeme McDowell (through 9) were equal when it got dark in Georgia. Their second round will resume at 7.30am local time (12.30pm Irish time).

Open champion Lori dropped his opening hole but came back with three berths. His players, last year’s Masters winner Tiger Woods, are under four.

Of the nine holes completed, McDowell had seven parcels, a birdie and a bogie.

Rory McIlroy Birds No. 17 days under 4 years old. # Themasters pic.twitter.com/NeRzyEwhBX

– Masters (M Masters) November 13, 2020

When the first round resumed on Friday morning, McIlroy had a bunker shot in the tenth hole but failed to save it, and then had to take a penalty drop from the bottom with the help of a club member following a wild drive on the 13th, but remembered his behavior.

“Thank you for making your green jacket dirty, sorry,” McIlroy told officials before returning to Fairway on his way to another drop shot.

McIlroy bogged for the fourteenth, pulling a tea shot into the water on the 15th and following the much-needed bird on the 15th.

He managed to save a bogie after a normal pitch from the drop zone but “this is so bad, my God,” McIlroy said excitedly.

“I was thinking of coming in this morning, taking this ball up and down 10, playing the last few holes in three or four underparts, getting in, and then going back, and I did the complete opposite,” McIlroy added.

“It wasn’t ideal, obviously I wasn’t thinking. I turned it around well and shot a good one, at least giving me a chance to go on the weekend.”

In ninth place, McIlroy started his second round and finished second on the 10th, 12th, 15th and 17th.

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Dustin Johnson, who plays with McIlroy, threatened to keep a significant distance between himself and the Chasing Pack when he lit the Amen Corner with the Birds on the 11th, 12th and 13th.

However, the world number one finished 14th, dropped another shot on the 15th and found water through his approach, gradually adding his second round of 70 to his opening 65.

Along with Justin Thomas, Abraham Anser and Cameron Smith, Johnson hit eight of nine straight backs before giving the club a lead (-9).

McIlroy and Johnson’s partner Patrick Cantley were bowled out for 66, along with South Korea’s Sungje Im (70), Hideki Matsuyama (15) and John Raham (12).

Former champion Danny Willett and fellow Englishman Tommy Fleetwood scored 66 shots. With Justin Rose, Chengsang Pan (through 16) and Louis ost Stuisen (through 12).

US Open champion Bryson Dechambue (+1 through 12) lost a ball and cost a triple bogey. Two-time winner Bernard Langer will play for the weekend at the age of 63. .