McIlroy leads the chase
Northern Irishman heads pack hunting down Reed
Tommy Fleetwood valiantly survived the Tiger Woods circus on the opening days of this 82nd Masters and, unburdened of the spotlight in the third round, marched right back into the big top with a brilliant 66.
The young Englishman rued his three-putt on the 18th, but there could be no complaints with his game after seven birdies. This was his first round under par at Augusta and was a measure of his growing confidence on the world stage.
“It’s a bit weird walking off disappointed with 66, I played great, it was great to get it going on the back nine,” Fleetwood said. “Today it was just about doing the best I could. It’s the first weekend I’ve ever played at Augusta, I wasn’t thinking about the lead, I just got closer. It was nice playing with adrenalin, but there’s nothing you can do about other the guys.”
About playing with Tiger Woods – who shot a 72 to remain on four-over – Fleetwood enjoyed it so much he announced he wants to face him at Le Golf National in September. “I’d like to give him a go at the Ryder Cup and we’ll see how fazed I am then,” Fleetwood said.
On six under, Fleetwood was sitting in the clubhouse checking how far he would be behind going into the final round. But with Patrick Reed seemingly responding to everything the chasing pack was throwing at him, the tension in the locker room remained on a knife edge.
Rory McIlory was the pursuer to make, seemingly, the most significant strides. The Ulsterman – who with a here tonight, would become only the sixth player in history to complete the career grand slam – started five behind but soon began eating into the deficit.
There were 20-footers on the third and the fourth for birdies and then a brilliant tee-shot to 18 inches on the par-three sixth. On the par-five eighth, McIlroy caught a huge break when his chip hit the pin and dropped for an eagle. In truth, it was going at least 10 feet past.
That drew him level with Reed, but just as the audience expected the 27-year-old to crumble at the sight of the four-time major champion looming up alongside on the leaderboard, so he reacted completely oppositely.
Nobody who saw Reed take apart McIlroy in the last Ryder Cup would have been surprised. The tenacious Texan does not do intimidation.
Reed birdied the next three holes and although there was a bogey on the 12th, he was planning something special on the par-fives. Ten minutes earlier, McIlroy had stood among the azalea to the left of the 13th green, wondering how he could extricate himself from this pink mess. McIlroy did so admirably, hacking out and making the up-and-down for par. Yet very soon Reed was to put this save into the shade. Reed conjured his second from 214 yards to 14 feet and slipped in the putt for his eagle to move four clear. The fist pump said it all. By now the action was breathless, with McIlroy missing a 12-footer for a birdie on the 14th, but then holing a 16-footer for birdie on the par-five 15th.
The problem was Reed was not finished with his heroics. On the 15th, his approach flared right and seemed on the brink of rolling back into the water hazard. And but for the wet turf it would have. Yet good players capitalise and Reed did exactly that, audaciously chipping in for his second eagle in three holes. Reed gave it the full Ryder Cup celebration and who could blame him? He was suddenly five clear with three left and it was his to lose.
By then, a few other front-line performers had posted their numbers. Jon Rahm and Rickie Fowler both fired best-of-the-weeks 65s to move to eightunder and nine-under respectively. For Rahm, the world No 3, it was a notable comeback after a first-round 75.
What did he do differently in his second-round 68 and this third-round, bogeyless magnificence, which featured five birdies and an eagle? “Nothing really,” the Spanish 23-year-old said. “I played well on Thursday but put two balls into the water on the last six holes. I’ve shot seven-under before but not at a place like this. It feels different. It feels like almost shooting 15-under anywhere else. Spanish history is so big here, so it is very special.” Bubba Watson was another wellfancied competitor in touch, the twotime champion shooting a 68 to pull alongside Fleetwood. But Justin Rose could only manage a 71 and on threeunder, he is probably too far back to go one better than last year.
Matt Fitzpatrick, the 23-year-old from Sheffield, showed what was possible with a 67, which hauled him to level par and into the top 25. “The course was there for the taking,” he said. “The greens were softer and it was easier to get at a few flags maybe, just because you could stop it. The weather’s made it a fraction easier.” Alas, for Phil Mickelson it was more than a few fractions more painful. After the 47-year-old’s triple-bogey seven on the ninth during the second round – which led to a 79 and essentially ended his dream of becoming the Masters’ oldest ever winner – Mickelson actually suffered an air shot on the first. In the trees, he hit a branch with his club on the downswing on his was to another triple-bogey seven.
He then went on a decidedly Mickelson tear, carding three more bogeys as well as an eagle on the eighth – where he hit a driver from the deck to eight feet – and two birdies. However he was not impressed. “I don’t have it.,” Mickelson said, after a 74. “It’s frustrating to be out there playing when you know you don’t have a chance.”
‘It was a bit weird walking off disappointed with a 66. I played great. It was best I could do’