With Tiger’s big move in round two and Rory McIlroy still going strong, this was to be one of the most eagerly awaited Saturdays in Masters history. It was Jason Day who made the early move on Saturday as he made three early birdies and had everyone watching thinking back to his second round of 64. However after stealing the lead form McIlroy he saw his challenge fade slightly as he double bogeyed the reachable par 5 13th. McIlroy saw this as an opportunity to reclaim the lead and boy did he make the most of it. Three birdies in the last six holes saw him pull away from the chasing pack who seemed to be struggling to come to terms with a drier, faster Augusta than we had seen on day one and two.
The only role defending champion Phil Mickelson looks set to play on Sunday will be to put the jacket onto the shoulders of the man who will succeed him. Mickelson failed to make a significant surge up the leader board managing a one-under-par 71 to sit on three under. Lee Westwoods hopes of going one better than last year also took a hit as he fired a disappointing 74 to fall into a tie for 18th with Mickelson. Tiger Woods also shot a shabby looking 74 after his second round had promised so much. He now sis seven shots behind the leader and only a super fast start will give him any hope of catching McIlroy.
There were two scores on the third day to take note of as Adam Scott and former champion Angel Cabrera shot a pair of 67’s to move in touch of the young Irishman. Scott had been struggling form tee to green over the first two rounds but everything seemed to click and he made sure Australia had two contenders from the green jacket come Sunday evening. Cabrera will pplay in the last pairing with McIlroy and will hope to put some early pressure on the leader. However with the way McIlroy has played from tee to green all week, it seems unlikely that he will come back to the field, meaning one of the chasing pack will have to produce something special to steal the title from the 21 year old. Stranger things have happened…
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