JORDAN SPIETH AND Rory McIlroy were separated by a single shot in the same pairing today. Both cut frustrated figures at various points of the round and both carded double bogeys on the 11th hole of their third round of the 2016 Masters.
Yet the two hottest prospects in the sport finished in very different places before the final day of they year’s first major.
While the defending champion looked up at a scoreboard reading +1 for the day and a leading -3 as he walked to the 12th hole. McIlroy knew he had blown a chance to eat into Spieth’s lead and instead drifted down into the pack with a + 5 for the day.
Spieth would improve his situation further before he was done with Amen Corner, a birdie on 12 was and 14 erased putting lapse on the 11th and set the defending champ on course for a four-shot lead over Smylie Kaufman, whose three-under-par 69 was the best on the course on ‘Moving Day’.
However, Spieth offered more than a smidge of hope for the chasing pack when a bogey on 17 was followed up by a wayward tee shot on the 18th tee. Despite the lead, Spieth’s frustration was on show again after his approach shot. Having left the third shot short, he also left the putt well shy of the hole and will have a three-putt and double bogey to ponder overnight.
Having started just a shot off the reigning champ, McIlroy was two over par through the front nine, but still clinging on to the wobbling leader. After his 11th though, he was unable to break par.
On the positive side, he didn’t pick up any more shots either, and with the wind set to die down on the final day, McIlroy at +2, will feel he has an outside shot of reeling the leader in.
Spieth proved an excellent front-runner on his win last year, but the three shots picked up over his final two holes leave him just a single shot clear of Kaufman with Jason Day and Dustin Johnson only three shots back on even par.
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