A MESSAGE FOR Greg Norman and LIV: this is why you don’t end tournaments at 54 holes.
The weather-delayed third round at the Masters resumed this morning at a soggy Augusta National, with leaders Brooks Koepka and Jon Rahm slugging it out at the top of the leaderboard while Viktor Hovland got busy off-broadway and snuck into contention.
Koepka and Rahm will play alongside each other again in the final round, with Koepka two shots ahead at 11-under. Third-placed Hovland is three shots off the lead, and will tee it up along with Patrick Cantlay, not entirely out of the equation at six-under.
Koepka bridled slightly in pointing out to the media that he led Rahm by two at the start of the third round, and the now-halved four-shot lead was registered at the intermission.
“Halved? What do you mean halved? I started yesterday at two. I’m just spitting facts to you. I don’t know what else to say. I’m in the same spot, yeah. I’m fine with two.”
“It’s important to be in the final pairing, the closest pursuer”, said Rahm. “I mean, I can’t be worrying too much about what he’s doing. My objective today is to focus on my own game and what I can control. Whatever Brooks does is whatever Brooks does.”
Saturday is usually moving day at the Masters but its abbreviated form meant the leaders spent Sunday morning aiming to stay steady upon the shifting ground.
When yesterday’s hooters wailed, Koepka walked off the seventh green with a four-shot lead over Rahm.
They returned today and Rahm instantly halved the deficit, putting for birdie as Koepka made bogey, only his second of the week.
They each birdied the par-five eighth and then ground out pars through to the forbidding twelfth tee, wobbling as they did. Koepka went left off the 10th tee but drained a clutch putt for par, while Rahm escaped with a four on 11 having gone frightfully close to the water.
Koepka then made bogey on the famous, par-three 12th having sent his ball bouncing off to the back of the green, but Rahm instantly handed the shot back with a clumsy three-putt on the par-five 13th.
Koepka then had cause to thank the damp. An iron into 15 saw the ball stop dead and skid back towards the water, but grabbed on the slope before it went plunk. A dry week would have meant a wet ball.
Rahm flew to the right on the par-three 16 as Koepka dived into the front-right bunker: Kopeka’s fabulous chip gave him a tap-in par but Rahm’s imprecision off the green left him a two-putt for bogey. Koepka then blinked on the 17th green, drawing gasps with a missed putt to save par.
Koepka and Rahm each saved par on the last to sign for a one-over 73, without a back-nine birdie between them.
Viktor Hovland, meanwhile, notched five of them. All in a row.
He actually bogeyed nine and 10, meaning he stood at the beginning of Amen Corner fully ten shots behind. By the time he was signing for his score, he was three shots off the lead and right in the mix. The highlight was a sparkling chip-in from the back of the green on 12, with a sweet, curling putt giving him an easy birdie on 15.
He made a steely par save on 16 and then might even have catapulted himself into the final group later today, seeing a birdie putt on 18 burn agonisingly to the right of the hole.
“I’m definitely coming in with some momentum off of that back nine”, said Hovland. “That was really nice. We’ve still got a lot of work ahead. I need to post a really good number later this afternoon.”
Patrick Cantlay was among the few players in the field to enjoy the atrocious conditions yesterday, making three-straight birdies before play was called to a halt. He clawed back a further shot across the conclusion of his round to sit in fourth place at six-under, five shots back. Past champion Hideki Matsuyama and Russell Henley are crouching a shot further back.
Meanwhile, Shane Lowry’s hopes of making a third-round charge for the green jacket faded with a one-over round of 73, but he played his remaining holes across the back nine this morning in one-under. He is at three-under for the tournament, in a tie for ninth place.
“I wanted to get back to level par for the day”, reflected Lowry. “I felt like if I did that, it would be a pretty successful morning. 1-under for the last nine holes is pretty good. I’m obviously a long way back, but I’m in a decent position into this afternoon.
“[Yesterday] was one of those days where…it was a bit of a grind, and the weather was tough. I didn’t make the pars when I should have and didn’t birdie the two par-fives.
“I made too many fives. If you can keep them off your card, obviously, you’re going to shoot a good score. So that was kind of the way yesterday went. I’m obviously a long way back, but you never know. Lying around 10th going into the final round here is pretty good. Obviously Brooks and Rahm and Viktor are doing something. But look at the run Viktor just did down the back nine. So it’s out there.”
Seamus Power, meanwhile, closed for a baroque, one-over 73 that featured six bogeys and five birdies. At two-over for the tournament, he slips back to 39th spot on the leaderboard.
“I’d love to finish in the red figures”, said Power. “It depends. I think this breeze is probably going to stay up, so I imagine it will play tough again. Getting into red figures and maybe pick up a couple late or something like that.”
While the rains have relented, the winds are just as strong as yesterday, and they may become a protagonist in the theatre to follow.
Having toiled through seven holes in yesterday’s brutal rain, Tiger Woods withdrew because of an injury to his knee before play resumed this morning.
He will be restricted to the watching brief that will be embraced by millions of fans this evening.
A magnetic Masters Sunday awaits.
Masters Third Round Leaderboard (selected)
1. Brooks Koepka (-11)
2. Jon Rahm (-9)
3. Viktor Hovland (-8)
4. Patrick Cantlay (-6)
T5. Hideki Matsuyama, Russell Henley (-5)
T7. Collin Morikawa, Sam Bennett (-4)
T.9 Justin Rose, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Reed, Shane Lowry, Gary Woodland, Jason Day (-3)
39. Seamus Power (+2)
Fourth round tee times (Selected; All times Irish; *Denotes start on 10th tee)
6.17pm*: Seamus Power, Adam Scott
6.46pm: Justin Rose, Shane Lowry
7.05pm: Collin Morikawa, Sam Bennett
7.14pm: Hideki Matsyuama, Russell Henley
7.24pm: Viktor Hovland, Patrick Cantlay
7.33pm: Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm