Rory McIlroy at Masters 2015: Leaderboard Score, Twitter Reaction from Friday

There is one gaping hole on Rory McIlroy’s otherwise illustrious resume: the lack of a green jacket. Safe to say, that will still probably be the case after the 2015 Masters, even though he turned in a solid second round.

McIlroy finished Friday's round with a one-under 71. It put him into a tie for 19th place at two under par for the tournament following Thursday’s 71, but he is an entire 12 shots behind the leader, Jordan Spieth. 

While the round certainly did not go exactly as McIlroy envisioned, he deserves plenty of credit for bouncing back after the turn and making the cut. He shot an abysmal four-over 40 on the front nine and capped it off with a double bogey on No. 9. It appeared as if he wasn't even going to make the weekend, let alone the top 20, but he turned in a clutch five-under 31 on the back nine to skyrocket up the leaderboard.

Alan Shipnuck of Sports Illustrated noted that McIlroy has struggled on the front nine before at Augusta, while ESPN Stats & Info put some of McIlroy's Masters issues into statistical context:

McIlroy was a popular pick to win the entire tournament at the start of play Thursday, so seeing him below the projected cut line after nine holes was a shock. Mark Herrmann of Newsday pointed out an interesting comparison as Tiger Woods turned in a solid day at three-under par to bring his total score to two-under:

McIlroy foreshadowed what was to come in the back nine, though, when he picked up a critical birdie on No. 10. On that hole, he needed to perhaps calm his nerves and get into something of a rhythm with his weekend place in the field on the line.

He then picked up two pars before blasting an approach shot on his second stroke of the par-five 13th. He converted on the golden opportunity for an eagle and brought his total score back to even par for the tournament. More importantly, he gave himself some breathing room with the impending cut line looming.

Golfing World commented on the approach shot, while Sky Sports Golf reacted as well: 

Things took a temporary downturn when McIlroy bogied the 14th, but he wasted little time making up for that. In fact, McIlroy birdied Nos. 15 and 17 and was suddenly under par again for the tournament. The birdie on the 17th came via a chip in from off the green and was the punctuation mark on an impressive turnaround on the back nine.

The fear that he wouldn't even make the cut seemed like it was days ago.

Golf Australia noted that McIlroy's entire group was playing formidable golf after the turn:

McIlroy wasn't satisfied at one-under for the day and went out and birdied the final hole as well. Bob Harig of ESPN.com highlighted the difference between the McIlroy fans saw on the front nine and the McIlroy they saw after the turn:

McIlroy is trying to join the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Gary Player, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen as career Grand Slam winners with a victory at the Masters, which puts even more pressure on him than there already is at Augusta. He has actually never finished higher than a tie for eighth place (last year) and has shot a round of 77 or worse his last five times in the tournament.

He commented on the pressure before the tournament began, per Ian O’Connor of ESPN.com: "It's such an intimidating place the first time that you get here. And I felt like I may have shown it a little bit too much respect at times."

That pressure may have gotten to McIlroy in the early going, especially if he was pressing trying to make up the astronomical amount of ground between him and Spieth with some early birdies.

Spieth even haunted the 2011 version of McIlroy Friday, per SportsCenter:

Even if McIlroy doesn’t have a late charge in him at the Masters to make up that ground on Spieth, all is far from lost for the rest of the year.

Remember, all McIlroy did after collapsing with a final round 80 in the 2011 Masters was go out and win the U.S. Open two months later. He flashed strokes of brilliance on the back nine Friday that reminded those in attendance just how special he can be on the golf course. He will surely look to carry that performance over into the weekend.

Although he is a long shot to win it at this point because of Spieth's brilliance, McIlroy can still gather some momentum with a strong finish moving forward toward the rest of the majors. As long as he does that, he will be on the short list of contenders at every tournament he plays.