AUGUSTA -- The shadows lengthened, the stakes rose and the friendly conversation slowed.
Good friends Rory McIlroy and Jason Day had spent the previous two days sharing a threesome with fellow rising star and friend Rickie Fowler. They had talked about boats and cars and thrilled in the roars over their superior golf.
In the final group Saturday, with Tiger Woods trying to make his move one group ahead, the 21-year-old McIlroy and the 23-year-old Day felt the heat, both figuratively and literally.
"I can't control what he does," Day said of Woods. "I can only control -- well, kind of control -- what I do."
They entered the theater that is the green of the par-5 15th and the par-3 16th separated by two shots, McIlroy at 10 under and Day at 8 under. Choi, in a group with Tiger Woods, was also at 8 under.
Day nearly failed to clear the pond fronting 15 and momentarily lost his balance standing over his chip onto the green. But he made a birdie, matched by McIlroy, by chipping past the hole and then dropping a putt of perhaps 12 feet.
Still separated by two strokes, McIlroy made par on the par-3 over the water at 16. Day's second putt hit a spike mark that kicked it off line, giving him a three-putt bogey and pushing McIlroy's lead to three shots.
In that late-afternoon moment, McIlroy's grasp on his first major championship firmed and strengthened further a few minutes later.
On the par-4 17th, McIlroy hit a loose tee shot that came to rest in the left rough about 155 yards away from the pin. Between the ball and the green, though, was a pine tree about 30 yards from the ball. Studying his shot, he pantomimed a swing, imagining how he could get the ball onto the green. He grabbed his pitching wedge, took a practice swing and then another.
He swung, carving a hook around the tree and onto the back edge of the green, about 33 feet from the pin. From the stands behind the green, the gallery shouted its approval. Day, farther off the tee and in the fairway, put his second shot past the pin, eventually making par.
Fans, one of whom was wearing a kilt, watched expectantly as McIlroy lined up his putt. He deftly sent it down the hill toward the hole, and it fell in amid roars and a Tiger-esque fist pump. He called the birdie a bonus.
"It was great because I had been waiting for a putt to sort of drop all day and for it to drop there," he said. "It was great timing."
They closed with textbook pars on 18. McIlroy nearly curved in another birdie putt, but settled for a tap-in and then received a hearty ovation from the crowd at 18.
After shaking hands with Day and his caddie Colin Swatton, McIlroy began to walk off the green before turning around briefly, as if to soak in the moment.
Said Day, "Rory, the way he's hitting the ball, he can pretty much go out there and he can shoot a couple under par, I think, and probably win."
At the end of his Saturday round, McIlroy didn't look like someone who needed to be convinced of that.
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