Patrick Reed can't match Justin Rose's short game skills as he found the front bunker off the tee, played a nice escape to around seven feet but missed the par putt.

Reed drops back to eight under in a quick two-shot swing in favour of Rory McIlroy.

"No" shouts Scottie Scheffler as his approach from just off the fairway at the 14th catches the ridge in the middle of the green.

Instead of running back his ball shifts on a yard and trickles in towards the flag.

Can he take advantage of that break? No. His putt from 10 feet grazes the left edge of the cup and slips past.

Image source, Getty Images

Justin Rose! He's almost holed out with a chip shot that would have challenged Tiger Woods' famous effort around here.

He's on a steep downslope miles off the right side of the fourth green but my word he's played this amazingly well, punching it into the ground and running it right along the green and catching the slope back down towards the hole.

It just burns the left edge as well but he'll take that from there - that's an 11/10 effort from that spot as he taps it in for a par.

Trish Johnson
Former Europe Solheim Cup player on BBC Radio 5 Live

With McIlroy’s game, the way he’s playing, he’s going to make five or six birdies.

Touch wood, so long as he doesn’t make any doubles, he’ll be OK.

Tommy Fleetwood and Shane Lowry both run off the back of the dance floor at the fourth.

One club too many perhaps?

But the Irishman is able to navigate back in two as Fleetwood gives up his first shot of the day.

Now then. Rory McIlroy has 22 feet for an eagle on the third.

It's a slick left-to-righter. Ohhh, it just runs out of speed, but that's a tap-in birdie and he moves back to level for the round.

Sam Burns needed two tries to get up the hill and faces a slippery putt for par. But he walks it in. Smooth. He remains two-under for the day.

An exquisite wedge shot gives Cameron Young a very good look at birdie on the seventh.

If that had skipped on a foot we might have been talking about an eagle and tie for third, instead he has to make do with a three.

"Miss it!"

Rory McIlroy is concerned about another tee shot. But he doesn't need to be this time.

He lashes one towards the green on the driveable par-four third. It misses a few branches, meanders its way on to the right edge of the green and trickles a few feet closer.

An eagle putt. Making that would really spark him into life after a sluggish start.

Sam Burns is short and left and will have a pitch back up the hill.

Scottie Scheffler is up early on his birdie putt.

It's drifting left all the way. Just a par for the American who will be hoping to pick up at least a couple more shots now he's out of Amen Corner.

Image source, Getty Images

Wow! What a start from Patrick Reed as he reels off his third birdie in a row and now he's just two behind Rory McIlroy.

It's a crunching drive from Reed just short of the green on what is a driveable par four today for some of the longer hitters, and he's got such great hands with a wedge he was always going to knock it close enough to stroke home the putt for a three.

A mini fist pump from Justin Rose as he rolls in a lovely birdie putt to pick up his first shot of the day.

Trish Johnson
Former Europe Solheim Cup player on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

Hopefully [Rory McIlroy] can hit a good drive down the third and give himself a birdie chance, because those two holes have been a little bit ragged.

Good lag from McIlroy and he tidies up for par, but that's a five-five start for the leader and he walks off the green with a grimace.

Now, can Burns follow up his birdie on the first? Yes he can!

Like Patrick Reed, Burns has halved the deficit and strides to the third tee.

Tommy Fleetwood burns the edge of the cup with a birdie putt on the third, while Shane Lowry putts up to six inches from off the left fringe.

Both are playing some delightful stuff.

Rory McIlroy gets lucky and has a full backswing on the second, but he produces a bit of a wild swipe and his ball goes flying towards the gallery to the left of the green.

He has plenty of green to work with but must come over a bunker. And that's not his best effort either. It's too long and he's facing a tricky two-putt for par.

Sam Burns was forced to lay-up after finding sand off the tee but he clips a beautiful wedge straight over the top of the pin. Birdie putt coming up.

Li Haotong joins the party with his third birdie of the day coming at the fifth - that only yielded five birdies all day yesterday.

The Chinese challenge is up into a tie for third now and just four shots off the lead.

Scottie Scheffler hoicks his second into the greenside bunker on the 13th. He will not have a lot of room to work with down there.

But given he started the day 12 shots behind the leader and is currently only five, he will not be too flummoxed by that. He seems more annoyed when his third catches the front edge and sticks rather than trickling down towards its intended target.

Well, well, well, what have we here? Patrick Reed plays a beautiful bunker shot on the second and then rolls in the putt for a second birdie in his opening two holes.

And quick as a flash that six-shot lead Rory McIlroy started with has been cut in half - and he's in a spot of bother on the second as well.

Things just got interesting....

Make that 0/9 fairways hit for McIlroy on par-fives this week.

His drive at the second carries the bunker down the right but takes a wicked kick to the right and scampers down through the pinestraw and seemingly nestles close to a little tree.

It doesn't look like he'll have much of a backswing from there.

BBC Sounds

Here's a reminder that you can also listen to live coverage on the BBC Sounds app - so you can take The Masters with you wherever you are tonight.

Or, to listen on your smart speaker at home, just say, 'Play 5 Sports Extra'.

Every shot will be covered on this page, plus in-play clips and commentary from across BBC Radio 5 Live.

Recent Masters champions have usually done the bulk of their scoring on the par fives, with in fact only Danny Willett of the last 10 winners scoring better on the threes and fours than the longer holes.

And so far Rory McIlroy is following that formula, as he's made a birdie on seven of the eight par fives he's played so far.

And while he started today seven under on the fives, he was three under on the par threes and two under on the par fours. He could win the Masters from here just taking care of the par fives and playing it safe on the rest.