Rory McIlroy leads at the halfway stage

Rory McIlroy leads the Masters at the half-way stage, but there is a hungry pack behind him; and it is going to be fascinating viewing over the weekend, to see if the 21-year-old Northern Irishman can hold them off.

Among the chasing pack is the 24-year-old Australian, Jason Day, who is two shots behind, and has played the last 36 holes in the same pairing as McIlroy.

But, perhaps more significantly, Tiger Woods and K.J. Choi are three back on 7-under, and world number two Lee Westwood is a further two back on 5-under.

“I knew I played pretty flawlessly yesterday,” said McIlroy, “so I didn’t really expect to shoot 65 today. I played pretty similar today to be honest. I hit it really well; I just didn’t hole that many putts on the back nine. You know, I’ve got myself into a great position in this golf tournament.”

World number two Westwood certainly doesn’t see himself out of things, and is relishing the competition with his stablemate, McIlroy.

“There aren’t too many weaknesses in Rory’s game, and he hits the ball a long way and high, which is great news around here. But, we’ll find out a lot of things over the next couple of days. Asked if the experience he and Tiger had would be an advantage over the young guns on the leaderboard, he said: “Well, I’m playing in my 12th Masters, and I don’t think they’ve played in that many. This is the epitome of tournaments where experience is so valuable. The first time I experienced major championship nerves was here in the 1999 Masters. But there is nothing wrong with nerves. It’s the way you cope with them that counts.”

And, in the second last group of the day, Tiger Woods made a birdie from 10 feet at the last, which took him to 7-under par. The shadow he casts on other competitors may not be as dramatic as it used to be; and yet there won’t be one player on that leaderboard who doesn’t know exactly where he is.

“I’m three back,” said Tiger grinning ominously afterwards, “and I’ve put myself back in the championship. The turning point of my round was on the 11th, where I made a great par putt, after birdies at the 8th, 9th and 10th. There’s a long way to go though. It’s supposed to get warmer over the weekend, and the greens may get a lot firmer. They were soft today; fast but soft.”

Tiger plays with K.J.Choi tomorrow; the player he played with for four rounds last year.