Masters Leaderboard 2012: Rory McIlroy Is Ready to Win First Green Jacket

Rory McIlroy is poised to take over the lead at the Masters in Saturday's third round and put himself into a great position to win the green jacket on Sunday evening.

McIlroy showed a lot of confidence and composure in Friday's second round, which means another collapse like last year at Augusta is not likely to happen. 

Per the Chicago Tribune:

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"I feel like I've played solid golf the last two days and could have been a couple shots better, like probably everyone in the field is thinking," said McIlroy.

"I drove the ball better. That was the big thing. Whenever you drive the ball well here it enables you to be a little more aggressive with your iron shots, and maybe go at a few more pins. That was the difference today."

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McIlroy shot three under par on Friday and is four under for the tournament, just one stroke back of Fred Couples and Jason Dufner.

The star from Northern Ireland looks determined to win the second major tournament of his career. His poise is very impressive and he looks comfortable on the greens.

McIlroy had the lead going into the third round at Augusta last season, but he might in a better position to win this season.

"You could definitely make that argument that I'm a lot better equipped to handle this situation than I might have been last year," McIlroy said via USA Today.

If McIlroy can continue to putt strongly and limit his mistakes, then he will have a great shot to win the Masters.

No one has run away with the tournament yet, so McIlroy has a chance to separate himself from the pack with a great third-round performance.

After his collapse at Augusta last year, McIlroy knows how difficult winning the Masters is, and this experience will only help him this weekend.

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