San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
• Hideki Matsuyama leads by 4.
San Diego’s Xander Schauffele made an undulating, twisting putt from 61 feet for an eagle at the par-5 15th hole that put him into a tie for the lead on Saturday afternoon at the Masters.
It lasted about 30 seconds, before playing partner Hideki Matsuyama drained a 6-footer for his eagle. By the time they walked off the 17th green, Schauffele was four strokes back.
And so it went on Moving Day at Augusta National. The San Diego State alum carried some boxes, maybe a chair or two, and shot 68 to go from 3 under to 7 under and part of a four-way tie for second place. But Matsuyama did the heavy lifting — couches, beds, dressers — and was several exits ahead on the highway at 11 under after a career-best 65 at Augusta National.
Good thing he missed that 4-footer for birdie on 13, or he would have been five shots over the horizon.
“It’s moving day, it’s Saturday,” Schauffele said. “You want to play with someone who’s going to shoot 7 under. You hope that it’s you, and if not, you chase. You’d rather play with someone that’s shooting 65 than shooting 74. It was nice to chase after him.
“He’s an incredible iron player. This is a great course for him. … Obviously he showed it this afternoon.”
Well, actually evening. The final group finished in twilight after a 78-minute weather delay at 3:57 p.m. as a band of thunderstorms did what Augusta National’s groundskeepers hadn’t all week and watered the firm, fast course.
No one benefited more than Matsuyama, from the break or from the softer conditions. He was 5 under and had just hit a wayward drive on 11 before the horn blew, then rode out the storm in his car playing video games on his phone. He returned to thread a 7-iron through the pine trees and make the 19foot putt for birdie.
And it was on.
“I just figured I can’t hit anything worse than that,” Matsuyama said. “And so maybe it relieved some pressure. I don’t know. But I did hit it well coming in.”
At 15, a 5-iron from 205 yards to 6 feet.
At 16, an 8-iron to 4 feet. At 17, a pitching wedge to 10 feet.
Maybe his best shot of the day came on 18, after driving into the fairway bunker and flying his approach over the green onto the trodden strip of grass where the players walk up to the clubhouse. With a muddy, downhill lie, he delicately pitched 20 yards to the fringe and watched the ball trickle within 2 feet of the hole for a tap-in, exhale-out par.
Also in the logjam in second was Justin Rose, who carded a 65 on Thursday but followed it with a pair of 72s to remain at 7 under; Australia’s Marc Leishman; and Will Zalatoris, trying to become the first rookie to wear the green jacket since 1979. Corey Conners was alone at 6 under after a hole-in-one at No. 6. Jordan Spieth couldn’t capitalize on the softened greens, starting the day at 5 under and ending it there.
Justin Thomas got it to 6 under early in the day and seemed poised to contend, then melted down with a triple-bogey 8 on the 13th — statistically the third-easiest hole on the course this week — and tumbled 10 strokes behind.
“It was two rounds,” Thomas said. “I was playing great before the delay, and then I didn’t afterwards. I mean, it’s just a shame. I was really playing well.”
Matsuyama becomes the first Japanese player to lead after any round of the Masters and would be the first man to win a major from his golf-crazed nation. He’s had success here before, shooting a 68 and finishing as low amateur in 2011 at age 19. In his last six Masters, he’s been in the top 15 four times.
Over 37 career rounds at Augusta, he’s 22-under par.
“I love playing here,” he said.
The interesting part is that he hasn’t played well pretty much anywhere else over the past four seasons, failing to win a PGA Tour event after claiming three in 2017 and climbing to No. 2 in the world rankings. Since September, he’s had only one top 10 in 15 starts and came to Augusta as a 35-to-1 long shot.
“This will be a new experience for me,” said Matsuyama, 29, “being a leader going into the final round in a major. I guess all I can do is just relax, prepare well and just do my best.”
It should help that he’s paired with Schauffele again. Matsuyama speaks little English, but Schauffele’s grandparents lived in Japan and he kept the mood light with his limited vocabulary.
“I threw my few words here and there that I could,” Schauffele said. “Just some proper words (and) some bad ones too, unfortunately, that I’m not going to say now.”
Said Matsuyama: “We exchanged some good Japanese jokes and had a good laugh.”