But Spieth’s late problems kept McIlroy five shots off the lead with a 2-over total of 218, tied for 11th place. “So two under with three to go and the wind at your side, I just got really wayward from there”.
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It was the closest McIlroy would be to Spieth all day. A poor approach at the third resulted in his first bogey, with a three-putt at the seventh the cause of a second drop shot.
“[Also], understand that this is the position I wanted to be in after 54 holes and [I’m not thinking] about the finish to today’s round”. “All of a sudden, it’s anyone’s game, so it’s tough to swallow that”.
Spieth was cruising at six under with two holes to play only to slice his drive on 17 into trees on the way to a bogey. If you told me that at the beginning of the week, I’d be obviously very pleased.
“Mixed feelings”, he admitted rather glumly.
With birdies on the par 5s and a bonus birdie from a 40-foot putt on the par-3 16th, McIlroy recovered for a 1-under 71 that left him one shot behind Jordan Spieth and in the final group going into the weekend.
The 58-year-old Bernhard Langer was just a shot further back alongside Hideki Matsuyama and in contention to become the oldest major champion ever by a decade, with world number one Jason Day, Dustin Johnson and England’s Danny Willett on level par.
LEADING: Jordan Spieth (73) at 3-under 213.
Sarazen, who like Nicklaus, Woods, Ben Hogan and Gary Player, has the career Grand Slam, was also 23 when he got the third of his seven majors.
“Honestly, I think it will be tough to put it behind me”, Spieth said. He thought he was out of the tournament when he was eight behind Spieth with two holes to play. “Today was my bad day and hopefully I can go out there and make up for the lack of birdies today and make double the amount tomorrow”.
The gap was down to five, a hard but not impossible deficit to make up on Sunday, McIlroy having seen his own four-shot lead over the field vanish in double-quick time in the final round of 2011. “And now with very little wind tomorrow, someone gets on a run and shoots 6, 7 under, you know, I know I have to shoot a significant under par round tomorrow in order to win this tournament, when I could have played a different style of golf like I did on Sunday previous year”.
Kaufman, who qualified for the Masters by shooting 61 in the final round to win in Las Vegas, used to spend his summers playing junior golf against Spieth.
He was on top from wire to wire a year ago, capturing his first green jacket in romp, and he’s held the top spot through the first 36 holes this year.
Kaufman, a 24-year-old from Birmingham, Ala., is in his first year on the PGA Tour and qualified for the Masters by winning the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in his second event.
“I now live with my parents but I’m in the market for finding a house”, Kaufman said. “I just enjoy playing, coming out every day”.
Still, Kaufman said he has been put at ease around Augusta National by a large cheering section of friends and family that’s been as big as “20 to 30 a day”.
Langer’s 70 – highlighted by his chip-in for birdie on the 14th hole – in such trying conditions was unexpected, but as Spieth pointed out, this is a man who has dominated the Champions Tour with 26 wins.
Still, if the German captures this Masters, he would shatter the record for oldest champion of a major by 10 years. He is trying to win his fourth major championship at the age of 22.
Spieth still had a chance when he birdied both par 5s to get within two shots with three to play.
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He even beat Day, who was hitting it some 60 yards by him.
