If the Masters, as the cliché goes, doesn’t truly begin until the back nine on Sunday, McIlroy’s quest to become the sixth man to win all four of the modern majors still has life yet. “I had a four-shot lead and was coming off a great up-and-down at 18”. The winds caused everyone to second-guess, but Spieth no longer looks like a sure thing.
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His driving from the tee had been wayward all day, but, in contrast to McIlroy, the Texan scrambled superbly and holed crucial putts.
His round included three bogeys and one double bogey to leave him in a tie for 11th place. It’s tough to swallow that. As much as it could be annoying to his competitors, it’s very, very impressive and I think the guys that are out there, that are playing that golf course today, we’re the ones that appreciate that the most.
“I really shouldn’t have hit (the) driver on 17 in the position I was in”, said Spieth.
“So it’s mixed feelings right now”.
Spieth, who holds the top spot in the Official World Golf Ranking, leads the tourney through three rounds with a 3-under-par 213 after carding a 1-over 73 on Saturday. It also gave plenty of hope to a cast of challengers that include 58-year-old Bernhard Langer and Hideki Matsuyama of Japan, who were two shots behind. Spieth only needed to get past the risky par-3 12th hole to settle himself, especially with two par 5s in front of him.
“I think the big turning point for me in the round was the seventh”, he said.
Spieth was up by four strokes with two holes left. It’s not going to be fun tonight for a little while. “A good save at the last to kind of have a putt to see go in”. He led wire-to-wire previous year.
The heavy winds sweeping through Augusta National Golf Club had something to do with that.
Nobody has won in his first Masters since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979. At 24, he is less than two years older than Spieth.
“I just tried to keep my head down and keep plugging”, Kaufman was quoted as saying by The Shreveport Times following his third round. Still, he was thrilled to make that snaking 70-footer at the 14th, and just as delighted to watch Langer chip in minutes later for his own birdie at the hole.
Going against a bunch of guys young enough to be his kids, Langer was positioned to beat the record for oldest major victor by a full decade.
“I’ve certainly felt better a year ago on Saturday night than I do right now”, he said.
Horschel made the best of it. He took a drop and wound up making a bogey on the par 5. Just like Spieth, he let the last few holes get away from him with bogeys on the 16th and 17th for a 72. He still was only two shots behind.
World No. 1 Jason Day is trying to make a move, but defending champion Jordan Spieth continues to lead the way midway through a wild and windy third round at the Masters. She gave birth last week.
Spieth also made double bogey at No. 11, but was able to recover.
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Another three putt followed and, after having a four shot lead walking off the 16th green, he suddenly left the scorer’s hut with only a one shot lead over the fast-finishing Smylie Kaufmann.
