McIlroy targets Masters top-10 | Fleetwood enjoys 'amazing' day

Rory McIlroy has set his sights on a late push for another top-10 at The Masters after battling tough conditions to post his lowest round of the week at Augusta National.

McIlroy came into the opening men's major of the year with another opportunity to complete the career Grand Slam, only to see his hopes of winning the Green Jacket quickly fade after successive rounds of 73 left him 10 strokes off the halfway lead.

The former world No 1 mixed four birdies with three bogeys on a cold and breezy day to post a one-under 71, with McIlroy proud with his display and targeting a strong finish to the week.

"I played well," McIlroy said. "It's just hard to go very low out there. Anything under par is a good score. It's just blustery, there's no easy birdies. Even the par-fives, usually you feel like they're holes that you would likely pick shots up on. The way the wind's blowing, sometimes five is a good score.

"Yeah, it's been a tough couple of days, and I've just sort of hung in there as best as I could. It's not really conditions favorable for going low and trying to get close to the leaders so it's just sort of hanging in there and doing the best that you can."

McIlroy dropped a shot at the first and needed to hole from four feet to save par at the second, with the Northern Irishman then holing a 35-foot birdie at the fourth and cancelling out a bogey at the sixth by making a 20-footer at the next.

The four-time major champion ended a run of pars by going long of the green off the 12th tee and bogeying the par-three, although took advantage of both closing par-fives to card his first under-par round at Augusta since the final round of the 2020 contest.

"You're just trying to go out and shoot the best score that you possibly