JORDAN SPIETH set a 54 hole Masters scoring record but a late misstep has seen the field narrow the gap going into the final round at Augusta National.
The 21 year old Spieth shot a 2-under 70 on Saturday to close at 16-under and lead by four strokes from Justin Rose (67), who breathed life into the event with a birdie on the 18th.
Phil Mickelson, who also shot a 5-under 67 is at 11-under with Charley Hoffman (71) at 10-under filling out the top two pairings for the final round, where the vast majority of Masters’ winners come from.
Spieth at one stage went to 18-under, a Masters score only ever equalled by a young Tiger Woods, but a double bogey on 17 sent him reeling.
A great up and down for par on 18 after a flop shot from the crowd at the back of the green steadied the ship.
“It was huge,” Spieth said of his final par.
The young Texan played in the final group at last year’s Masters when he was co-leader with eventual champion Bubba Watson but ended up coming second.
“Last year definitely left a bad taste in my mouth,” Spieth said. “I’ve been looking to get back, looking at trying to get some revenge on the year. I’ve got a long way to go still.”
Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods both had good Saturday’s, with each shooting 68 to be tied on 6-under along with Dustin Johnson, Kevin Streelman and Kevin Na.
Aussies won’t be going green
It just hasn’t been Australia’s year with Jason Day the best placed tied for 12th at 4-under after a 1-under 71, while Adam Scott (74) is languishing back at 1-under.
John Senden (72) and Geoff Ogilvy (73) are tied 36th at 1-over.
Amateur Antonio Murdaca improved on his first round 78 with a 1-over 73 in the second round but missed the cut.
Live TV coverage in Australia is scheduled to start on Fox Sports and 7Mate at 3.45am on Monday, finishing at 9.30am.
2015 US Masters Leaderboard
2015 US Masters Leaderboard2015 US Masters Final Round Tee Times
2015 US Masters Tee Times