The Masters: Rory McIlroy builds historic halfway lead in title defence at Augusta National as Bryson DeChambeau misses cut

Rory McIlroy moved a huge step closer to a sensational title defence at The Masters after taking a historic six-shot lead into the weekend at Augusta National.

A year on from completing the career Grand Slam with play-off victory over Justin Rose, McIlroy continued his push for more major success with a brilliant round-of-the-day 65 on Friday afternoon.

McIlroy broke the lowest 36-hole score by a defending champion as he moved to 12 under, the biggest halfway lead in the tournament's history, with the 36-year-old now firm favourite to join Jack Nicklaus, Sir Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods as a back-to-back winner of The Masters.

The defending champion birdied six of his last seven holes to charge clear of Sam Burns and former Masters winner Patrick Reed, while Rose and Shane Lowry posted second-round 69s to share fourth place with fellow Ryder Cup teammate Tommy Fleetwood.