AUGUSTA (AFP) - Rory McIlroy carried a four-stroke lead into Sunday's final round of the 75th Masters, the 21-year-old Northern Irish prodigy on the verge on his first major title and a wire-to-wire victory. McIlroy, in only his 10th major tournament, has been poised under pressure, surrendering only two bogeys through 54 holes to stand on 12-under par 204, four strokes ahead of K.J. Choi, Angel Cabrera, Jason Day and Charl Schwartzel. It's the largest Masters lead since Tiger Woods opened a nine-stroke edge on the field on his way to winning his first major title in 1997 by a record 12 strokes, a victory that helped inspire a young McIlroy to play golf. "It feels good," McIlroy said. "I'm not getting ahead of myself. I know how leads can dwindle away quickly. I have to go out there, not take anything for granted and play as hard as I have the last three days. "If I can do that, hopefully things will go my way. McIlroy already has three third-place showings in majors, including the 2009 and 2010 PGA Championships and last year's British Open, where the Ulsterman matched the record low score in any major with a 63 only to follow with an 80 at wind-swept St. Andrews. Sunday began with a downer for McIlroy as his beloved Ulster rugby team lost 23-13 to Northampton in the European Cup quarter-finals. "Proud of the lads They gave it a great go" McIlroy posted on his Twitter micro logging website after loss, some 3 1/2 hours before his tee time. McIlroy leads the field in driving distance at 303.3 yards and ranks second in greens in regulation with 43 of 54. No European has won the Masters since Spain's Jose Maria Olazabal in 1999, but McIlroy could end the drought and become the second-youngest Masters winner, eight months and nine days older than Woods when he won at 21 in 1997.