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Grand Slam dream all but over for Rory
Spieth leads by four
AUGUSTA, 11 Apr 2015 (AFP) - Jordan Spieth held at bay a gallery of golfing greats at the Masters for most of Saturday's third round before a nervy finish opened the door slightly for his closest rivals.
Leading by a record-equaling five shots at the halfway stage of the year's first major, Spieth had already felt the heat from the likes of Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods even before he teed off at Augusta National.
Then Phil Mickelson entered the fray with a triple-birdie blast early on that hauled the three-time former winner into firm contention. Finally, England's Justin Rose came at him late.
But they all needed Spieth to falter and he gave few signs of doing that before coughing up a double-bogey at the 17th.
By the end of the day, Spieth, with a two-under par 70 for a Masters-record 54-hole total of 200, was four ahead of Rose, who had birdies at 16 and 18 for a 67.
Mickelson, who also had a 67, was alone in third on 205 with fellow American Charley Hoffman a further stroke back after a 71.
Woods and McIlroy were on 210, 10 shots off the lead along with Dustin Johnson (73), Kevin Streelman (70) and Kevin Na (70).
"It felt a little bit different out there. It was weird," Spieth said.
"I played in the morning yesterday and I had more than 24 hours from the time I finished to the time I teed off and that's a long time to sit on a lead like that.
"Maybe I got a little bit anxious at times."
Spieth had set Augusta National alight with opening rounds of 64 and 66 that saw him record 15 birdies against just one bogey.
In so doing, he became the youngest player to lead the Masters after the first round, and his 130 halfway total was the lowest-ever in 79 editions of the year's first major.
He was firmly in a winning position, but remained aware that he still had much to do, as he learned last year when he led the Masters after 54 holes, but ended up tied for second behind Bubba Watson.
A slippery five-footer brought a birdie at the second, but he misread his short putt at the fourth to record just his second bogey of the tournament.
A superb 22-footer for birdie at the par-three sixth was then followed by a poor bunker shot at the next that handed him a second bogey.
Hardly the kind of play that had stunned the galleries and his rivals in his superb opening rounds, but at that stage he was still where he was when he started the day -- five shots ahead of the field.
Woods, Mickelson and McIlroy all went out in 32 and the steady Hoffman was stubbornly holding on with a run of pars.
But Spieth kept them at arm's length and then birdies at the 12th and 13th going around Amen Corner moved him further clear.
Short birdie putts at 15 and 16 increased his lead to seven shots, although he nipped a chip at the 17th for his third bogey of the round and then three putted for double-bogey at the next hole to leave the door ajar.
Four-time former winner Mickelson, whose round of 67 included a stupendous 40-foot birdie putt at the 16th, said that after a poor season for him so far Augusta National at the weekend had once again brought out the best in him.
"It really is the best," he said.
Woods, who came in with a 68 for his first back-to-back score in the 60s in a major since the 2012 British Open, and first at the Masters since 2005, said he felt his fine play was not reflected on his scorecard.
"I had my chances to make this a really special round," he said. "I had it going a little bit. I missed a couple of shorties and six and seven. A realistic score would have been 6- or 7- (under) today.
The four-time former winner, however, had the satisfaction of proving he is starting to get his game back after a wretched start to the year which forced him to take a self-imposed timeout to work out what was going wrong.
McIlroy, who saw his hopes of becoming just the sixth player to win all four majors all but blown out of the water despite a 68, said that time was on his side to one day win at Augusta National.
"I definitely feel like I play this golf course better and better every year that I come here," he said. "I just need to keep putting numbers up like I did today. I know I'm capable of it."
Tiger back in groove
AUGUSTA, 11 Apr 2015 (AFP) - Tiger Woods used superb short-game shotmaking, what had been a major worry only weeks ago, and leaped into the Masters hunt by firing a four-under par 68 in Saturday's third round.
The 14-time major champion birdied four of the first eight holes at Augusta National and, despite a closing bogey, the four-time Masters winner finished on six-under 210 after 54 holes in the year's first major tournament.
"I had my chances to make this a really special round," Woods said. "It could have been something seriously low. I had it really going. All in all, it should have been about two shots better."
Woods was level with world number one Rory McIlroy but 10 shots off the pace of leader Jordan Spieth.
"It's in Jordan's hands right now," Woods said. "He can run off and hide. He's just playing 'Steady Eddie.' That's all he has to do, handle the par-fives and stay away from bogeys."
Woods has not won a Masters since 2005, has not won a major title since the 2008 US Open and has not won any title since the 2013 WGC event at Firestone.
"I'm going to have to post something low, shoot 30 or 31 (on the front nine)," Woods said of his Sunday final-round strategy.
"At least I've given myself a chance."
Folowing a 69 Friday, Woods has had back-to-back rounds in the 60s at the Masters for the first time since his 2005 triumph. He had not done it in any major since the 2012 British Open or in an American major since the 2009 US Open.
Woods, who has fallen to 111th in the world rankings, went three-under on the first four holes for the first time in his Masters career, birdied the par-5 eighth, 13th and 15th holes but went right into trees off the tee at 14 and 18 on the way to bogeys.
The 39-year-old American returned to competition this week after a two-month layoff to fix his game, awful chips and pitches a sign of his woes.
Woods, who missed last year's Masters after back surgery, has struggled to finish 72 holes over the past 12 months, but his wedges and irons were spectacular in round three.
"I certainly have gotten better each day," Woods said. "What I've done all week has been pretty good. There are subtle things you have to do and I'm getting a feel for them."
Woods pitched to six feet to set up a birdie at the par-5 second, chipped to two feet and birdied the third and put his tee shot 10 inches from the cup to birdie the par-3 fourth.
Woods missed a six-foot birdie putt at the sixth and a 10-footer for birdie at the seventh, then punched a wedge to six feet and birdied the par-5 eighth.
After making a tense 10-footer for par at nine, Woods went into trees left, dropping his club and cursing as the ball veered off course.
Woods salvaged a birdie on a 15-foot putt, the recovery prompting a powerful right fist pump as the crowd roared, but was not as fortunate from the trees at 14 and 18.
"I made a stupidly good birdie at 13 and a stupidly bad bogey at 14, so it all evens out," Woods said.
Grand Slam dream all but over for Rory
AUGUSTA, 11 Apr 2015 (AFP) - Rory McIlroy's dream of becoming just the sixth man to win all four Grand Slam titles lay in tatters on Saturday despite the Northern Irishman carding a fine 69 in the third round of the Masters.
The world number one started the day a daunting 12 strokes behind leader Jordan Spieth and had a mountain to climb.
But he made a barnstorming start with an eagle at the second, thanks to a 37-footer, and birdies at eight and nine.
At that stage, he had clawed his way back to eight shots off the lead and two more birdies at 13 and 15 gave him a clear sight at Spieth.
But bogeys at the last two holes sent him in with a 69 and at six under he was facing an impossible task on Sunday to win his fifth major.
"Yeah, I got off to a good start. Sort of the way I wanted to play the front nine," he said.
"I had not really played the front nine too well the last couple days, so to play them under par is nice.
"Made a couple good birdies on 13 and 15. Felt like the other holes on the back nine were playing pretty tough with the pin positions and a bit of a swirling wind.
"So yeah, got it to 8-under-par through 15, and then a disappointing finish. But overall felt like I played pretty well."
McIlroy needs just a win in the Masters at some stage to match Grand Slammers Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen.
He won the US Open in 2011, the PGA Championship in 2012 and 2014 and the British Open in 2014.
The career Grand Slam apart, a win on Sunday would make him only the third man to win three majors in a row and put him on the cusp of becoming just the second man after Woods to hold all four major titles at the same time.
At 25, he has time on his side, but needs to work out a way of playing four good rounds at Augusta National. His best so far in six previous apperances was a tie for eighth last year.
Asked what it was that was that was stopping him from playing his best at Augusta National, a course he feels is well suited to his game, McIlroy replied: "I don't know, silly mistakes.
"I missed a couple of short ones yesterday on greens.
"I definitely feel like I play this golf course better and better every year that I come here. I just need to keep putting numbers up like I did today. I know I'm capable of it.
"There are just a few stretches of holes that have held me back and that has really been the case this year again."
Third round scores in the Masters on Saturday at par-72 Augusta National:
200 - Jordan Spieth (USA) 64-66-70
204 - Justin Rose (ENG) 67-70-67
205 - Phil Mickelson (USA) 70-68-67
206 - Charley Hoffman (USA) 67-68-71
210 - Kevin Streelman (USA) 70-70-70, Kevin Na (USA) 74-66-70, Tiger Woods (USA) 73-69-68, Rory McIlroy (NIR) 71-71-68, Dustin Johnson (USA) 70-67-73
211 - Paul Casey (ENG) 69-68-74, Hideki Matsuyama (JPN) 71-70-70
212 - Jonas Blixt (SWE) 72-70-70, Zach Johnson (USA) 72-72-68, Bill Haas (USA) 69-71-72, Jason Day (AUS) 67-74-71, Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) 72-69-71, Ian Poulter (ENG) 73-72-67
213 - Sergio García (ESP) 68-74-71, Ryan Moore (USA) 74-66-73, Hunter Mahan (USA) 75-70-68
214 - Russell Henley (USA) 68-74-72, Charl Schwartzel (RSA) 71-70-73, Ernie Els (RSA) 67-72-75, Angel Cabrera (ARG) 72-69-73
215 - Bernd Wiesberger (AUT) 75-70-70, Adam Scott (AUS) 72-69-74, Bubba Watson (USA) 71-71-73, Cameron Tringale (USA) 71-75-69, Rickie Fowler (USA) 73-72-70
216 - Webb Simpson (USA) 69-75-72, Patrick Reed (USA) 70-72-74, Brooks Koepka (USA) 74-71-71, Henrik Stenson (SWE) 73-73-70, Noh Seung-Yul (KOR) 70-74-72, Lee Westwood (ENG) 73-73-70
217 - Bae Sang-Moon (KOR) 74-71-72, Morgan Hoffmann (USA) 73-72-72, Chris Kirk (USA) 72-73-72, Ryan Palmer (USA) 69-74-74, Geoff Ogilvy (AUS) 74-70-73, John Senden (AUS) 71-74-72
218 - Mark O'Meara (USA) 73-68-77, Matt Kuchar (USA) 72-74-72, Keegan Bradley (USA) 71-72-75, Danny Willett (ENG) 71-71-76
219 - Jimmy Walker (USA) 73-72-74, Steve Stricker (USA) 73-73-73, Jason Dufner (USA) 74-71-74, Erik Compton (USA) 73-72-74
220 - Anirban Lahiri (IND) 71-75-74
221 - Graeme McDowell (NIR) 71-74-76, Jamie Donaldson (WAL) 74-71-76
222 - Darren Clarke (NIR) 74-71-77
224 - Vijay Singh (FIJ) 75-70-79
225 - Thongchai Jaidee (THA) 75-70-80