Bryson DeChambeau’s charge home has slowed Rory McIlroy’s tear towards a 25-year golfing first and set up a thrilling final-day Masters duel.
McIlroy (12 under) lit up Augusta National early on Saturday before his American nemesis answered in the shadows, nailing a 50-foot birdie putt on the 18th to sit just two shots back.
It means McIlroy will need to exorcise new and old major demons, the Northern Irishman in a final-round group pairing with the imposing American who broke his heart at Pinehurst to snatch the US Open last year.
But McIlroy has already shown his resilience this week and on Saturday was ruthless, a historic birdie-eagle-birdie start the first occasion of a player starting a round with three straight threes in Masters history.
His chip in on the second electrified the huge gallery and another eagle on the 15th offset two bogeys in his second consecutive round of six-under 66.
DeChambeau (69, 10 under) fired up with back-to-back birdies down the stretch – and again on the 18th – after he had faded to seven-under-par through 14 holes.
Canada’s Corey Conners (70, eight under) has been in the mix all week while former winner Patrick Reed surged into the reckoning with Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg (both shooting 69s and six under).
Australian Jason Day (71, five under) continued his steady campaign that again on Saturday was frustratingly unable to hit top gear.
Day was six under through the turn and had putts to move within two shots of leader McIlroy.
He chipped in on the 14th but then, after finding the middle of the sloping 16th green, opted to chip in fear of his putt sliding into the water.
That effort left him with a testing par putt, Day missing that then almost holing an approach to the 18th after spraying his drive to finish with a par.
Fellow Australian Min Woo Lee’s Masters chances have been derailed after he copped a one-shot penalty and was put on the clock for slow third-round play.
Lee carded a five-over-par 77 on Saturday to fall to four over for the tournament and out of contention.
He was penalised a shot at the 13th hole when officials deemed the ball moved after he addressed it with the club on the fairway.
Lee copped the penalty on the chin but was clearly miffed by suggestions of slow play, explaining that the extended 20-minute gap imposed to the group ahead of them had exaggerated the issue.
“They (Masters scheduling officials) gave us (Lee and playing partner Harris English) the gap between two of the groups,” he told AAP.
“It just looked bad on us, and the guys right behind were playing fast and so it looked terrible.”
Lee began well, scrambling a par from the trees and sand on the first and then moving to two under with a birdie on the third.
He almost holed out for eagle on approach to the fifth, but then three-putted to take bogey in a sign of things to come.
“It was okay for the first bit and we were on the clock and I think that got to me,” he said of his putting.
“We had a 20-minute starter gap, which doesn’t look good for us and the ref said we were a minute behind as soon as we saw him.
“And the next hole we got timed. Playing Augusta is already tough … we played nine holes in two hours which is apparently really slow.
“That was tough and it just got to me.”
Lee, a winner on the PGA Tour last month, is keen to wipe the slate clean for Sunday’s final round.
“I’ll definitely learn from it and just good golf (tomorrow); we’ll stick to our process and see what happens,” he said.
© AAP
