Jordan Spieth shot 70 for the second day in a row at Augusta National and now finds himself in a tie for first place with fellow American Bubba Watson going into the final round of 2014 Masters Tournament.
Spieth, already the youngest American to play in the Presidents Cup, in his first appearance at the Masters, the 20-year-old Texan is bidding to become the youngest winner ever of The Masters. He is seven months younger than Tiger Woods was when he won the 1997 Masters.
He mixed in four birdies and two bogeys on his round and has been steady through the three rounds (71-70-70) and will be in Sunday’s final group alongside Watson, the second round leader and 2012 champion.
Watson scorched Augusta National on Friday to start the day with a three shot lead at seven-under, but on Saturday it was a very different story. He started with a bogey on the opening hole, but made up for with interests when he eagled the Par-5 second and opened a four shot lead at eight-under.
But after bogeys on the fourth- sixth and seventh holes, he would come back to the pack, falling to five-under at the moment and his lead trimmed to a one shot lead. He would get a cushion by birdieing the Par-4 10th as he made the turn and head to ‘Amen Corner’ at six-under.
He would bogey the Par-3 16th, and at that moment he would fall into a tie for the lead with Spieth and Sweden’s Jonas Blixt. He would then save par at the closing hole to keep pace and remain on Sunday’s final group.
Blixt, another Masters rookie, was at five-under when he made the turn today, but he would make two bogeys through ’Amen Corner’ and fell back to three-under. He would birdie 15t hand 16th but a bogey on the 17th would drop him out of Sunday’s final group.
He is in a tie for third with American Matt Kuchar, who always seems to find the right moment to sneak up on the field. Kuchar would play the front nine in a bogey-free three under, but a bogey at the 11th set him back a shot to two-under.
Kuchar, comes from losing the Shell Houston Open in a playoff to Matt Jones, would go on to make consecutive birdies at the 13th, 14th and 15th and get to five-under for the tournament. But a bogey on the closing 18th dropped him from the possibility of a tie for the top spot.
He has finished T3 and T8 in his last two starts at The Masters.
Another player looking for a piece of history is Golf’s Most Interesting Man, Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez, who had the low round of the day with a six-under 66. The 50-year-old made seven birdies and one bogey and his 66 is the low round of the week so far.
For Jimenez, who will make his Champions Tour debut next weekend, his main focus this year has been to make the Ryder Cup team. But a win this weekend would not only allow to reach that goal, but he would break Jack Nicklaus record as the oldest player ever to win the Masters by slightly over four years difference.
This year’s Masters could be even more special as we could very well witness history in the making, with possibly the youngest or the oldest player ever to win the Masters. A playoff finish between the two would be record breaking.
Jimenez is tied for fifth with American Rickie Fowler, who shot six birdies and one bogey for a total of five-under 67 today and join Jimenez at three-under, two behind Spieth and Watson.
Tied for seventh-place at two-under is a group of three veterans, Englishman Lee Westwood, American Jim Furyk and Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn. One shot behind them tied for 10th at one-under are England’s Justin Rose (69), Australian John Senden (75) and Americans Fred Couples (73) and Kevin Stadler (72).
American Gary Woodland tied a Masters front nine scoring record with a bogey-free 30, but a double bogey and two bogeys in his final seven holes left him with a still good round of three-under 69. He is tied for 14th with England’s Ian Poulter (70).
Other world top players scoring on Saturday: Adam Scott (76, T16 at one-over), Henrik Stenson (74, T24 at three-over), Jason Day (70, T19 at two-over) and Rory McIlroy (71, T24 at three-over).
A total of 15 players are within five strokes of the lead and the final round starts on Sunday at 10:10 am ET when Larry Mize takes the first tee.
The final pairings of the day and their tee times (ET) will be:
- 2:00 pm - Thomas Bjorn and Justin Rose
- 2:10 pm - Lee Westwood and Jim Furyk
- 2:20 pm – Miguel Angel Jimenez and Rickie Fowler
- 2:30 pm – Matt Kuchar and Jonas Blixt
- 2:40 pm - Jordan Spieth and Bubba Watson
TV Coverage will be on CBS Sports from 2:00 pm – 7:00 pm ET.