England's former world No.1 Rose carded a one-under-par 71 on Friday to reclaim the clubhouse lead at eight under, holing a clutch par putt on the last with his rivals circling.
Bryson DeChambeau shot a four-under 68 to finish a shot behind Rose while Matt McCarty made history to finish at five under. World No.1 Scottie Scheffler was five under through 13 holes.
Jason Day quickly emerged as Australia's main hope, skipping onto the front page of the leaderboard with three front-nine birdies to reach five under and sit in a tie for fifth through 13 holes.
He narrowly missed two more birdie putts around Amen Corner but remained the only bogey-free player in an otherwise helter-skelter tournament.
Min Woo Lee was even through 14 holes to be one under through 14 holes and safely inside the two-over cut line.
But the wheels fell off for Cameron Smith (five over, 71, 78), who started the day at one under but went backwards, a double bogey on the 11th a bitter pill to swallow as he missed the cut for the first time in nine visits.
Adam Scott (five over, 77, 72) also missed the cut for the first time in 16 years while Cam Davis (nine under, 74, 79) finished close to last.
But all eyes are on world No.2 McIlroy, who wilted on Thursday with a duo of double bogeys after he had soared to four under to seemingly kiss his chances of a maiden green jacket - and career grand slam - goodbye.
The Northern Irishman put that behind him on Friday, making back-to-back birdies after the turn and an eagle on the par-five 13th that shot him back into the guts of the leaderboard.
He then launched an audacious approach from the pine needles, over the towering trees, on the next hole that led to a tap-in par.
McIlroy edged a shot closer to the leaders with a birdie on the 15th - the par-5 he took seven on a day earlier - to finish just two shots off the pace.
"I think overall, just proud of myself with how I responded today after the finish last night," McIlroy said.
"I just had to remind myself that I played really good golf yesterday, and you know, I wasn't going to let, you know, two bad holes sort of dictate the narrative for the rest of the week."
Phoenix native McCarty (five-under) double-bogeyed the first hole and dropped another shot on the next, but still carded a four-under 68 to take a brief clubhouse lead.
The historic recovery included eight birdies in 12 holes, McCarty the first to shoot 68 or better in a round in which he was three-over or worse at any stage.
Former champion Scott, who declined requests for interviews post-round, has missed just two cuts in his 23-year Masters history.
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