Four-time major winner Rory McIlroy is already trying to play mind games with Patrick Reed heading into final round of the Masters.
The Latest on Saturday’s third round at the Masters (all times local):
6:55 p.m.
Four-time major winner Rory McIlroy is already trying to play mind games with Patrick Reed heading into the final round of the Masters.
McIlroy and Reed will be in the final pairing on Sunday. It could shape up to be the kind of showdown typically seen in the Ryder Cup.
Reed made two eagles on the back nine and shot a 5-under 67 in the third round at Augusta National, just a few miles down the road from where he went to college. Reed is at 14-under 202 heading into the final round. No one has ever shot all four rounds at the Masters in the 60s.
Reed also has a shot at the Masters record of 18 under, set by Tigers Woods in 1997 and tied by Jordan Spieth in 2015.
McIlroy shot a 7-under 65 Saturday and will start the final round three strokes behind the leader.
“All the pressure’s on him” Sunday, McIlroy said. “I’m hoping to come in and spoil the party.”
Reed is looking for his first major championship.
McIlroy is seeking his final major in a career Grand Slam.
“It’s massive,” McIlroy said. “This is my first final group here since 2011, and I feel like I learned an awful lot that day.”
Rickie Fowler is 9 under, one shot ahead of Jon Rahm and two strokes better than Henrik Stenson.
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6:10 p.m.
Patrick Reed made two eagles in three holes to extend his commanding lead at the Masters.
Reed got to 6 under in the third round at Augusta National and 15 under for the week at golf’s first major. He has a four-stroke lead over Rory McIlroy after missing a 7-footer and giving one back on the par-3 16th.
No matter how he finishes, he will leave the course with two huge highlights on “Moving Day.”
Reed reached the par-5 13th in two shots and made a 14-footer for the first eagle. He second one was even better. Reed was short of the green on the par-5 15th — he hit a 3-wood 240 yards over a pond — but then holed out from about 30 yards. He chipped onto the green and watched it roll right into the cup.
He delivered a demonstrative fist pump and let out a yell as the gallery roared.
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5:20 p.m.
Patrick Reed’s birdies keep coming in bunches.
Reed responded in a huge way to Rory McIlroy’s eagle at the par-5 eighth by making three straight birdies in the third round at Augusta National on Saturday. He posted red numbers on Nos. 8,9 and 10, and headed to Amen Corner with a three-stroke lead.
It’s the fifth time in 46 holes that Reed strung together back-to-back-to-back birds. The 27-year-old Texan is seeking his first victory at a major championship.
Reed gave one shot back when he flew the green at the par-3 12th and barely missed an 11-footer for par amid a sudden downpour.
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4:45 p.m.
Phil Mickelson found a silver lining — crystal, really — in the third round at the Masters.
Mickelson shot a 2-over 74 Saturday thanks partly to making a triple bogey and a bogey on the first two holes. He is at 7-over 223 heading into the final 18 holes Sunday.
The highlight of the third round will be making an eagle at the par-5 eighth. It was the 19th eagle of his career at the Masters, and each one comes with a commemorative crystal glass.
Mickelson says “it wasn’t a total loss” and adds “you can never have enough crystal.”
It might even help him forget about the first few holes, specifically the shot in which completely missed the ball trying to get back to the fairway. He punched out, missed the green and wound up with a triple bogey.
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4:15 p.m.
There’s a new name near the top of the leaderboard at the Masters.
Rory McIlroy chipped in for an eagle at the par-5 eighth in the third round at Augusta National and briefly tied 36-hole leader Patrick Reed at 9 under. McIlroy responded with a dramatic fist pump while biting his bottom lip.
Reed made a birdie on the same hole a few minutes later and reached 10 under.
McIlroy was about 20 yards right of the green with his second shot and delivered a nearly perfect chip that bounced a few feet short of the green and starting tracking toward the pin. The shot would have rolled well past the hole, but it hit the stick and dropped in for a 3.
It could end up being the shot of the day.
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4:05 p.m.
Paul Casey credited his best round of the week at the Masters to a marker and a mattress.
Casey shot a 3-under 69 in the third round Saturday and made a decent move up the leaderboard. He was in the first group off the tee and played alongside Augusta National club champion Jeff Knox, who typically fills in when an odd number of players make the cut at the Masters.
They played in 3 ½ hours, about two hours fasters than threesomes averages during the first two rounds, and Casey called it “the best experience I’ve ever had with a marker.”
Casey found one more reason for his improved play: He slept in his 3-year-old son’s bed the last few nights in hopes of loosening up a tight hip.
Casey didn’t like the mattress in the house he rented near the course, so he bunked with his kid in “a proper bed.”
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3:15 p.m.
Tiger Woods is making a move — in the world rankings, not the Masters leaderboard.
Woods is expected to crack the top 100 for the first time in years following golf’s first major.
Woods shot an even-par 72 in the third round Saturday at Augusta National and is at 4-over 220 through three rounds. He continued to struggle with iron play, failing to get a grip on distance control.
He says “my swing is just off with my irons.”
The 42-year-old Woods is playing the Masters for the first time since 2015. He is back following a fourth back surgery.
He started the week ranked No. 103 in the world, but should move up several spots after making the cut at golf’s first major.
Woods says he is “just kind of gradually working on it, gradually building,” adding, “I’m getting there.”
Woods won’t win a fifth green jacket and says he now has a modest goal for the final round: “Even par or even in the red. Hopefully, I can get it done.”
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2:55 p.m.
Matthew Fitzpatrick made a huge move on “Moving Day” at the Masters.
The 23-year-old Englishman shot a 5-under 67 in the third round Saturday at Augusta National, getting to even-par 216 for the tournament. He’s surely to make one of the biggest jumps — maybe even the biggest — heading into the final round.
Fitzpatrick made four birdies and an eagle — all in a nine-hole stretch — to surge up the leaderboard.
Fitzpatrick, who has four wins on the European Tour, is in the Masters for the fourth consecutive year. He first made the tournament after winning the U. S. Amateur in 2013 and making the field the following year. He missed the cut.
He tied for seventh in 2016.
Umbrellas were out early at the golf course with light, intermittent rain falling.
