TO CATCH A SPIETH
Jordan takes 4-shot lead into final round with Phil & Rose lurking:
AUGUSTA — Ladies and gentlemen, we have a tournament.
Oh, Jordan Spieth can still run away with this Masters. After all, he just broke the 54-hole scoring record shared by Tiger Woods and Raymond Floyd. If he matches the 70 he shot Saturday, he’ll tie the 72-hole scoring record Woods set when he won by 12 in 1997.
But on his way to making a meal of Augusta National with seven more birdies, the 21-year-old Texan had a few hiccups, including a sloppy double bogey on 17. When 2013 U.S. Open champ Justin Rose birdied the final hole, he put himself within a very reasonable four shots, with three-time Masters champ Phil Mickelson another one stroke back.
At the end of the day, Spieth had lost one shot off his 36-hole lead but realizes he needs to tighten things up.
“What I learned about myself is that I saw a lot of putts go in today,” he said. “The downside of it was that I had to make a lot of putts today with five dropped shots, and I’m not going to be able to have that tomorrow. I can’t rely on the putter that much to save me with two major champions right behind.
“They are going to bring their game, and I’ve got to have a relatively stressfree round going.”
Rose birdied five of the last six holes, including a hole out from the bunker, but he said he wasn’t even thinking that he had to make a run.
“To be honest with you, no,” he said. “Jordan was so far ahead that you were just playing your own game, and you can’t get too aggressive around here. It was nice to stay patient and get rewarded with a hot finish. It’s amazing and it put me in with a great opportunity tomorrow.”
Mickelson brought on the biggest roar of the day when he ran in a 40-footer on 16 but he bogeyed 17, then missed a makeable birdie putt on 18. Still, it equaled the 54-hole start he had when he won in 2010.
Mickelson didn’t think Spieth would be bothered by two major champions chasing him.
“I don’t think it matters who is close to him. I think he’s playing very good golf and I think he’ll have a good round tomorrow. I think that if he were to come out on top, it would be wonderful for the tournament, wonderful for the game. I’m going to try to stop him, but we’ll see how it goes.” Mickelson was asked if he can win. “I’m not going to try to convince anybody,” he said. “I’m going to go have fun tomorrow.”
Spieth thought 2-under would have been a good score when the day started but after he got to 4-under through 16, he admitted he was disappointed — until he pulled off a remarkable par save on 18.
Spieth pushed his approach shot from the fairway into the gallery, leaving him short-sided with a bunker in front of him. The 21-year-old showed what he’s made of when he hit a delicate flopper to six feet.
“Obviously I would have liked to have finished the round a little bit better, but it also could have been worse,” he said. “I’m very pleased with that up and down on 18 that may have been a 1 in 5 (chance). That just took some guts, and having been in this scenario or having been in contention enough, having been on Tour for a few years, I felt comfortable enough playing that full flop.
“If you caught me a year and a half ago, I probably never would have played that shot in that scenario. So it was nice to have seen that go that way, to play the aggressive play, and to close it out with a nice putt.”
Judging by that, Spieth is going to be tough to budge.
“I think the good thing for him is he’s already experienced it once,” said Rory McIlroy, who, as a 21-year-old, blew a four-shot lead in the 2011 Masters. “He’s played in the final group at the Masters before. It didn’t quite happen for him last year, but I think he’ll have learned from that experience. I think all that put together, he’ll definitely handle it a lot better than I did.”
At least we get a chance to find out.