AUGUSTA, Ga. -- On a day when it appeared he was careening toward the wrong side of the Masters cut line, Rory McIlroy turned things around with a back-nine 31 to advance to the weekend.
That was the good news for the world's top-ranked player. The bad news is that it might require similar splits to overtake leader Jordan Spieth in pursuit of the career Grand Slam.
"I'm going to need four more nines like that to have a chance," McIlroy mused after shooting 1-under 71.
At least he does have a chance.
That didn't seem likely after he followed an opening-round 71 with a front-nine 40 on Friday that included a double-bogey on the ninth hole and three other bogeys. That number represented some déjà vu to last year, when he posted eight nine-hole scores in the 40s, including a 40 on the back nine of the Masters in the second round.
From there, though, McIlroy turned things around in a hurry. He birdied the 10th, eagled the 13th and birdied the 15th before closing with another pair of birdies -- a chip-in on 17 and a 10-foot putt on 18.
"Even though it was an up-and-down round," he said, "I finished on a high note and at least make myself feel a little bit better going into the weekend."
McIlroy -- and every other competitor -- will be chasing Spieth, starting the weekend a dozen strokes off the lead. With a win this week, the Northern Irishman would become the sixth player in history to claim the career Grand Slam, but he understands that will be a weighty undertaking.
"I would need to shoot a 14-under-par weekend and Jordan would have to play a couple average rounds, and neither of those two things look like they're going to happen, so it's going to be tough," McIlroy said. "I'll go out and try and play the best that I can, and we'll see where that leaves me. But a few more nine holes like the one I just had there, you never know."
McIlroy will play alongside defending champion Bubba Watson during Saturday's third round starting at 12:45 p.m. ET.