While the big story yesterday was Tiger Wood's charge up the leaderboard, getting somewhat lost in the Tiger-love is the continued strong play of 21 year old Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy, who continues to lead the pack after two rounds. McIlroy followed up his spectacular 7-under round one with a solid 3-under round two and now holds a two shot lead over Australian Jason Day.
You can count Phil Mickelson among those impressed by McIlroy this week, but Phil isn't exactly surprised, "Yeah, I mean he's playing great, he's a great player, it's no surprise at all. He hits the ball long, I expect him to play well on this golf course throughout his career and it's not a surprise."
McIlroy admits that it's a bit nerve-wracking, but still fun to be heading into the weekend as the leader.
"You know, it's what we play for. It's obviously going to be a lot of fun out there tomorrow, but at the same time, you know, I'm going to be nervous. But that's natural, and you welcome that. Hopefully I can deal with them pretty well. I've been able to deal with them pretty well before. Hopefully just go out there and enjoy it."
Finally, Rory was asked whether he'll be checking the leaderboard or not after seeing Tiger make such a charge on Friday?
"I'll just be concentrating on the golf course. If you start thinking about anyone else here, you can -- if you let your mind wander at all, it can cost you a couple of shots. I'll be focusing on my targets and focusing on where I want my ball to go on the greens, and that's all I can do. I don't really care what anyone else does. I don't need to know. So it will be great for the tournament if he's up there. But I'm two shots ahead and I'm in a better position."
For up to date info on the tournament including today's tee times, check out our full 2011 Masters stream.