The Masters 2023: third round resumes on marathon final day – live | The Masters

Serious trouble for Brooks Koepka at 10. Having watched Jon Rahm split the fairway with his 3-wood, he slices towards the trees on the right. His ball lands smack-bang behind one of them. He might be able to punch forward through a small gap in the branches; he might also be forced to chip out sideways. Either way, he’s not making the green in regulation.

One of the shots of the week into 15 by Patrick Cantlay. He creams his second pin high from 220 yards to 12 feet. His eagle putt stubbornly stays high on the left, when it should surely turn right in the direction of the water. But it doesn’t drop and he has to settle for a birdie. Cantlay briefly led this tournament on Sunday in 2019 after eagle on this hole, before stumbling home. He’s now in position to compete again today. He’s four under for his round so far, the hottest property out on the course.

-13: Koepka (9)
-11: Rahm (9)
-6: Cantlay (15), Bennett -a- (9)
-5: Fitzpatrick (13)

Rahm is faced with a treacherous bunker shot. He’s got to aim 40 feet left of the pin, and land softly, hoping the slope doesn’t take his ball away towards the fairway. He executes it almost perfectly. The ball lands like a feather, turns 90 degrees right, and then, thanks to the camber on the other side of the green acting as a backstop, rolls back into the heart of the green, stopping 12 feet from the flag. The best he could do. On Sky, Ewen Murray points out that Seve would have been 66 today, and he’d have doffed his cap to that one. Rahm rolls in the putt, one of the great up and downs on this famous hole. That’s a staunch save, because Koepka chips and putts with minimal fuss. The pair walk off with their pars, Rahm the happier having made three big putts in a row. Koepka must be wondering what he has to do to shake this guy off.

Brooks doesn’t take care of business on 9. He’s in the middle of the fairway, having watched Rahm send his tee shot onto pine needles down the right, then hit a mud ball into the bunker to the left of the green. But though he lands his approach on the green pin high, there’s too much backspin on his ball, which tumbles back down the false front and onto the fairway. An up-and-down contest coming up.

The 2021 champion Hideki Matsuyama will be seriously ruing the cold start he made to this third round. Bogey at 1 followed by a four-putt double-bogey at 2. Ooyah! Oof! He’s just made birdie at 13, his fourth in six holes after picking up shots at 8, 10 and 12. All of a sudden he’s back up to -4. He’s going round with Matt Fitzpatrick, who also birdies 13, a decent response to a dropped shot at 12. The US Open champ is back to -5.

Koepka makes his birdie putt … but so does Rahm, who pours in from ten feet. Right in the middle of the cup, never missing! That’s a big birdie that ensures he stays on the leader’s tail. Tell you what, though, Koepka really has been taking care of business on the par-fives this week. He’s birdied every one so far, with two exceptions: a bogey at 13 on Thursday, and an eagle at 8 on Friday. (Bachman-Turner Overdrive earworm.)

-13: Koepka (8)
-11: Rahm (8)
-6: Bennett -a- (8)
-5: Cantlay (14), Morikawa (9)

Rahm’s wedge into 8 is pin high but a good 12 feet right of the hole. Half a chance for birdie, which he’ll do well to make, because Koepka chips to a couple of feet. He’ll surely be taking back the shot he dropped on the previous hole in short order. But before he can, Bennett drains a 30-foot left-to-right breaker for a birdie of his own! The 22-year-old Texan amateur moves back to -6. A huge roar as the nerve-settler drops, and a big smile plays across his face.

Brooks gives it all he can with his fairway wood. He can’t reach. If Koepka can’t get there in two, surely nobody can. Rahm lays up, as does the amateur sensation Sam Bennett … who for the record couldn’t make his par saver on 7 and carded his third bogey of the round. He’s going backwards, now at -5, but whatever happens from here on in, he’s guaranteed to win the silver medal, as the only amateur to make the cut. He’ll join a select list: previous low amateurs at Augusta include subsequent champions Cary Middlecoff, Jack Nicklaus, Ben Crenshaw, Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Sergio Garcia and Hideki Matsuyama.

… so the gap having closed to two, it’s advantage Koepka from the tee at 8. Rahm’s drive finds the bunker to the right of the fairway, while Brooks splits the fairway. Exactly how much of an advantage that’ll be is something we’ll soon find out: while the weather is dry today, it’s cold and windy, and having also had a good drink yesterday, the course is playing longer than it did on the first couple of days. In other words, Koepka still has a ways to go to reach the green if he’s dreaming of a second eagle of the week on this hole.

Brooks Koepka restarts the day with a four-shot lead … but that doesn’t last long! First off he trundles his ten-foot par saver on 7 four feet past the hole. He makes the one coming back, but that’s a bogey five. Then Jon Rahm pours in his birdie putt, deserved reward for the glorious approach he hit into the green during the deluge last night. It’s not taken long … but this is on!

-12: Koepka (7)
-10: Rahm (7)

Tiger withdraws

Preamble