A Rory McIlroy-Bryson DeChambeau final pairing at the Masters? It’s on.

AUGUSTA, Ga. – At 2:54 p.m. on a pleasant Saturday , the Masters began anew – albeit in new gear and with a new protagonist. It went from entertaining sporting event to must-see TV – and, just maybe, became the prelude to what could be a historic Sunday at Augusta National.

Rory McIlroy, whose recent history in major championships might as well have been authored by Dante, stood stoically over his ball behind the second green, 18 yards from the hole. He chipped in for an eagle, and at least around this patch of Georgia earth, the ground rumbled. The roar rippled across the storied venue as leaderboards were updated and golf fans in every corner of the course received official word – McIlroy was leading the Masters.

That prompted the same quiet question from just about everyone, mostly whispered in hushed tones: Is it finally safe to believe?

“I still have to remind myself that there’s a long way to go,” McIlroy said later. “… I, just as much as anyone else, know what can happen on the final day here.”

By 3:30, the player who began the day two strokes off the lead suddenly held a three-shot advantage. And by day’s end, his scorecard was glowing with a pair of eagles and four birdies. McIlroy carded a 66 for a second straight day and stands at 12 under par with a two-stroke cushion over second-place Bryson DeChambeau entering the final round.

If McIlroy left just a bit of magic from Saturday’s round in his bag for the final 18 holes, his fraught, decade-long dalliance with heartbreak at major tournaments just might end Sunday. He’ll be paired in the final group with DeChambeau, the animated basher who shot a 69 and stands at 10 under with 18 holes to reel in McIlroy. It promises to be a high-drama pairing, a rematch of sorts that pits the face of the PGA Tour against LIV Golf’s biggest star.

“It’ll be the grandest stage that we’ve had in a long time, and I’m excited for it,” DeChambeau said. “We both want to win really badly. … It’s going to be an electric atmosphere.”

DeChambeau won the U.S. Open by one stroke over McIlroy last June. McIlroy posted three bogeys on the final stretch there and was in the clubhouse helplessly watching as DeChambeau saved par on No. 18 and stopped McIlroy’s star-crossed quest for a fifth major title.

“The biggest thing is not to make it a rematch,” McIlroy said. “… He’ll do what he does, and I’ll just have to stay firm and just stay in my own little world.”

McIlroy left the course Saturday evening eager for distraction. He would avoid his phone, he said, and try to immerse himself in an episode of “Bridgerton.” He doesn’t need to be reminded of Sunday’s stakes; people have been doing that for years. How he hadn’t won a major since 2015. How the career Grand Slam has eluded him. How he has fallen short of the green jacket in 16 previous tries.

This is as close as he has been since 2011, when he carried a four-stroke lead into the final round here. He posted a disastrous 80 that day, finishing the tournament tied for 15th.

He was all of 21 then and is both a different player and a different person today. Even at 35, when he’s at his best – as he was for much of Saturday’s round – no star shines brighter in the golf universe.

“When he plays his best golf, it’s hard to catch him,” Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg said. “I don’t think there’s a lot of guys in this world that can catch him when he plays at his best.”

McIlroy’s opening drive Saturday amounted to a warning shot. He blasted it 371 yards down the middle of the fairway and put the field on notice: He had shaken off the two double bogeys that marred his opening round and was riding the momentum from the 66 he posted Friday.

McIlroy’s early holes felt like a fever dream. He opened birdie, eagle, birdie, par, birdie – 5 under through five. He didn’t put a 4 on his card until the seventh hole, becoming the first player to start a round here with six consecutive 3s.

“It was a dream start,” he said.

Even when he cooled, others struggled to take advantage. Scottie Scheffler never came close to warming up, posting an even-par round. He’ll start the final round tied for sixth, seven shots behind McIlroy. Justin Rose, the 36-hole leader, looked spent for much of the afternoon and carded a disappointing 75.

And while DeChambeau certainly had an adventurous day, he didn’t really make his charge until late in the afternoon. After McIlroy posted an eagle on No. 15, DeChambeau found himself trailing by five. But he birdied three of the final four holes, including an emotional 4-foot putt on the par-3 16th.

“Rory was kind of moving forward. He was at 12 under, and I was kind of chasing a bit,” DeChambeau said. “When I made that (putt on the 16th hole), I looked up and I said, kind of as a statement: ‘You know what? I’m still here. I’m going to keep going. I’m not going to back down.’ ”

Only two players will begin the final round within five shots of McIlroy, and while the spotlight will shine brightly on DeChambeau, Corey Conners, a 33-year-old Canadian, will start the final round four shots back.

Conners turned in top-10 finishes in three consecutive trips to Augusta from 2020 to 2022, but he has broken par in the final round just once in seven trips to Augusta National.

“I’ve got a lot of faith in my game,” said Conners, who carded a 70 on Saturday. “What the other guys do is kind of out of my control, but I’m going to have to go and play a really good round of golf tomorrow.”

No Masters champion has overcome a deficit of five or more shots since 1996, when Nick Faldo began the day six back and chased down Greg Norman to win his third title. But lurking further down the leaderboard at 6 under, hoping for some Sunday magic, is Aberg, a 25-year old Swede who has completed seven competitive rounds in the Masters and played under par in five of them. He finished with a final-round 69 last year, leaving him runner-up to Scheffler. He’s tied for fourth with Patrick Reed, the 2018 Masters champion who has played 43 rounds here and has a lifetime scoring average below par.

“We both want to win really, really badly,” DeChambeau said of himself and McIlroy, “and … shoot, there’s a lot of great players behind us, too. Got to be mindful of that.”

So the stage is set. The tickets have been sold, and the leading man says he’s ready.

The drama, the stakes and the tension have gripped the golf world, audaciously stirring that familiar sense of hope – and dread.

All that’s needed now is an ending.