AUGUSTA, Ga. — The one-man show at the Masters gave way to a wide-open chase for the green jacket, with a stunning turn of events that forced Rory McIlroy to remind himself where he was at the end of Saturday instead of where he started.
The six-shot lead was gone in 11 holes. Instead of only two players within six shots of him, there were nine players within six shots of McIlroy and co-leader Cameron Young by the end of the day.
“There’s a lot of guys in with a chance tomorrow. I’m still tied for the best score going into tomorrow, so I can’t forget that,” McIlroy said. “But I do know I’m going to have to be better if I want to have a chance to win.”
It felt like the coronation had started when McIlroy put himself in the Masters record book with the largest 36-hole lead in history, even though the defending champion had cautioned, “I know what can happen around here, good and bad.”
The good belonged to Young, who displayed a mixture of power and calm that carried him to a 7-under 65, and to Scottie Scheffler, the world’s No. 1 player and two-time Masters champion, whose 65 took him from 12 shots behind to suddenly in the mix, just four back
The bad?
McIlroy was in the trees, in the water, in all sorts of places he would rather not be, including sharing space atop the leaderboard. He finished with a 73, surprising only because it was the lowest scoring average (70.63) ever for a third round at Augusta National.
“Didn’t quite have it today,” McIlroy said before going off to the range to figure out what went wrong. He is last in the field in driving accuracy among the 54 players who made the cut, hitting only 21 of 42 fairways through three rounds.
Young set his own Masters record, becoming the first player to have at least a share of the 54-hole lead when starting eight shots behind.
But he was steady and brilliant, chipping in for birdie on the par-3 fourth, converting a huge break when his tee shot on the par-5 13th crashed out of the tree and into the fairway, even salvaging a bogey with a bold wedge from the same spot where he had just come up short and into the water on the par-5 15th. He briefly took the lead with a 20-foot birdie on the 16th.
“You just are constantly aware of the fact that this place can bite you,” Young said. “So, to me, it’s just a really, really clear mandate that an easy par is never bad. And if you’re playing that well, you’re going to back your way into some birdies at some point.”
They were at 11-under 205, one ahead of Sam Burns, who played bogey-free for a 68. Shane Lowry, who made a hole-in-one on the par-3 sixth hole to become the first player to have a pair of aces in the Masters, had a 69 and was two shots behind. Jason Day and Justin Rose are three back.
And suddenly very much in the picture was Scheffler, who had his lowest round ever at the Masters with a 65 despite not making birdie on the par 5s on the back nine for the third straight day.
“We’ll see what happens this afternoon. I don’t feel like I’m out of the tournament,” Scheffler said.
What happened? Just about everything.
McIlroy was plodding along with pars when he stuffed his shot on the 10th for a birdie. But then his journey through Amen Corner might have left him wanting to say a few choice words.
His shot into the 11th went left and rolled into the water; he missed a 5-foot putt and made his first double bogey of the tournament. He pulled his wedge on the par-3 12th over the green and chipped poorly, missing a 15-foot par attempt. His drive on the par-5 13th sailed into the trees to the right for the third straight day; his wedge went long and he had to scramble for par.
“There’s certainly no lead that’s safe out there,” Young said. “But at the same time, Rory loves it here. I don’t think anyone would have been surprised if he went out and shot 65. But if he does open the door, you have to take advantage.”
McIlroy at least steadied himself after losing the lead. He holed a 20-foot birdie putt across the 14th green to tie Young, and then hit a beauty into the 15th to set up a two-putt birdie. But he was in the trees again on the 17th, left of the fairway, punched out with a shot that ran over the green, and he fell back into a tie.
The top eight on the leaderboard, separated by four shots, include five major champions and four players who have been No. 1 in the world.
Among those within five shots of the lead are former Masters champion Patrick Reed, despite having to settle for a 72, and Patrick Cantlay, who opened the Masters with a 77 and became the first player in seven years to play bogey-free two straight days with rounds of 67-66.
McIlroy still has a good chance to join Tiger Woods, Nick Faldo and Jack Nicklaus as back-to-back winners at Augusta National. Young is trying to make it three straight years that the winner of The Players Championship went on to win the Masters.
“I’m owed nothing. My past results don’t dictate what I do tomorrow,” Young said. “I’ve got to go earn whatever I get out of tomorrow, and the best way that I know to do that is kind of try to attack the day like I have the last three.”
It was the second time a career Grand Slam champion lost a big lead on Saturday at the Masters. Jack Nicklaus led by five shots in 1975 when he shot 73 and fell one shot behind, only to win in what is regarded as one of the most exciting Sundays in Augusta National lore.
Perhaps another chapter is in store Sunday. There’s no shortage of contenders.
