AUGUSTA, Ga. — The Masters looked as if it might be a runaway entering the weekend, but when the sun set on one of the wildest Saturdays in Masters history, a dozen players were within six shots of the lead.
Only two players were within six shots of the lead at the start of the third round.
What is left is a dream final-round scenario for the Masters: A championship that any number of high-profile players can win, setting up a potentially dramatic finish.
While Rory McIlroy was spraying his driver, others were bearing down on flagsticks as 10 players shot 68 or better. Birdies at every turn, and eagles there for the taking. Shane Lowry even had a hole-in-one on the difficult par-3 sixth.
The field’s average score on Saturday was 70.63 — a Masters record for the third round, besting the previous lows of 70.769 in 2019 and 70.979 in 1986.
“The course is gettable,” Russell Henley said after shooting a 66.
The way things went Saturday, Jason Day said it might be better not to be atop the leaderboard.
“I feel like the guys that are leading right now have all the pressure,” said Day, who is at 8 under. “I’m just kind of, I’m the chaser. Usually the chasers don’t really have a lot of the pressure. Guys at the top of the leaderboard always are trying to defend the lead, whereas I’m pushing forward trying to cut into the lead.”
Cameron Young shot a 65 — matching Scottie Scheffler’s round from earlier Saturday — to move into a tie with McIlroy. Sam Burns, who is one shot behind the leaders, shot a 68. Lowry also shot a 68 and is two back. Day (68) and Justin Rose (69) had clawed to within three of the lead and Scheffler was tied for seventh, four back and well within striking distance.
“I was aware that [McIlroy] wasn’t kind of stretching [the lead] out, so kind of made it feel like, yeah, all to play for,” Rose said.
Patrick Cantlay also shot 66 after a 77 and a 67 the first two days. He became the fifth player in the last 50 years to post back-to-back bogey-free rounds at one Masters.
The average score has decreased each round, from 74.65 to 72.85 to 70.63. The previous low for a third round was 70.77 in 2019.
“It’s playing a bit shorter because it’s firm,” Rose said. “So if you are really on your game, there’s a few more short irons, and the greens are just playable enough where with a 9-iron and a wedge, you can control your ball into certain pin locations. If it was playing as long as it normally is with the greens the way they are, that would be a pretty unplayable test to golf.
“I think what we’re gaining off the tee is offsetting a little bit the firmness of the greens.”
Rose is well aware that anything can happen on Sunday at the Masters.
Last year, he trailed McIlroy by seven shots entering the final round, only to catch him before losing in a playoff.
“I think I had to have a big mental reset going into the final round last year,” Rose said. “You know, this year it’s like — it feels like a little bit of a free run at it.”
Burns, who played in the final pairing with McIlroy on Saturday, said he simply tried to focus on his own game — and he’ll do the same Sunday.
“I can’t control anything anyone else does,” Burns said. “I can only control myself, and so that’s kind of what the mentality we took today. Just focus on our process and go out there and compete.”
On Sunday, Young will go off in the final pairing with McIlroy.
He has some history on his side, as the last two winners of the Players Championship have gone on to win the Masters.
“Yeah, I’ll probably give myself some time to think about it right now for the next 30 minutes or so,” Young said of his 65. “After that, it’s kind of a battle of managing how you want to react to those things. To me, it’s just a matter of going right back to how am I going to run my day tomorrow.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
