Moving Day set up what could possibly be one of the most interesting final round at the Masters ever. Bubba Watson survived nerves to hang on to first place, but the remarkable rookie Jordan Spieth shot a rock solid 70 to earn his place in the final group. Spieth was one of my picks for my fantasy team, but I never dreamed he’d be in contention for the jacket.
The best round of the game undoubtedly belonged to Miguel Angel Jimenez, whose 66 tied the Masters record for lowest round by a player 50+. He shares that honor with Ben Hogan and Fred Couples.
And speaking of Couples, Augusta’s phoenix is just four shots back. He can still win this by playing steady golf. I think both Watson and Spieth will have a rough day with nerves on Sunday.
Matt Kuchar and Jonas Blixt are one off the lead. I like Kuchar’s chances. Like Bobby Jones, he’s a Georgia Tech guy.
Rick Fowler (now that he’s had the haircut, I can’t call him “Rickie”) and Jimenez will play together Sunday and start the round two back. I don’t think anyone would be surprised to see either one with a win. Actually, the notion of a Jimenez win is quite appealing.
I was somewhat annoyed by the amount of time CBS spent lamenting the absence of Eldrick Woods. It is, in my mind, disrespectful to the players who were on the course. What CBS was essentially saying was that none of them were as interesting or important as a guy who didn’t even tee it up.
Worse were the comments that “August doesn’t feel the same without Tiger.” That’s disrespectful to the Masters, and to all the players who teed up in the pre-Tiger era.
Before I’m accused of being a Tiger Hater again, please note that I do not blame Tiger for any of this. It is instead entirely the fault of a lazy and sycophantic media. Every player should adopt the McDowell Rule and simply refuse to answer any questions that contain a reference to Tiger. In a perfect world, they’d band together and collectively blackball any reporter who asked Tiger questions.
I’m really looking forward to tomorrow’s round. It is a wide open championship, and that is the best kind.
The complete leaderboard after three rounds is below:
| POS | GOLFER | CNT | SCORE | TODAY | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | TOTAL |
| T1 | Jordan Spieth | USA | -5 | -2 | 71 | 70 | 70 | – | 211 |
| T1 | Bubba Watson | USA | -5 | 2 | 69 | 68 | 74 | – | 211 |
| T3 | Jonas Blixt | SWE | -4 | -1 | 70 | 71 | 71 | – | 212 |
| T3 | Matt Kuchar | USA | -4 | -4 | 73 | 71 | 68 | – | 212 |
| T5 | Rickie Fowler | USA | -3 | -5 | 71 | 75 | 67 | – | 213 |
| T5 | Miguel Angel Jimenez | ESP | -3 | -6 | 71 | 76 | 66 | – | 213 |
| T7 | Thomas Bjorn | DNK | -2 | 1 | 73 | 68 | 73 | – | 214 |
| T7 | Jim Furyk | USA | -2 | E | 74 | 68 | 72 | – | 214 |
| T7 | Lee Westwood | ENG | -2 | -2 | 73 | 71 | 70 | – | 214 |
| T10 | Fred Couples | USA | -1 | 1 | 71 | 71 | 73 | – | 215 |
| T10 | Justin Rose | ZAF | -1 | -3 | 76 | 70 | 69 | – | 215 |
| T10 | John Senden | AUS | -1 | 3 | 72 | 68 | 75 | – | 215 |
| T10 | Kevin Stadler | USA | -1 | E | 70 | 73 | 72 | – | 215 |
| T14 | Ian Poulter | ENG | E | -2 | 76 | 70 | 70 | – | 216 |
| T14 | Gary Woodland | USA | E | -3 | 70 | 77 | 69 | – | 216 |
| T16 | Adam Scott | AUS | 1 | 4 | 69 | 72 | 76 | – | 217 |
| T16 | Kevin Streelman | USA | 1 | 2 | 72 | 71 | 74 | – | 217 |
| T18 | Jason Day | AUS | 2 | -2 | 75 | 73 | 70 | – | 218 |
| T18 | Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano | ESP | 2 | 2 | 75 | 69 | 74 | – | 218 |
| T18 | Russell Henley | USA | 2 | 3 | 73 | 70 | 75 | – | 218 |
| T18 | Chris Kirk | USA | 2 | -1 | 75 | 72 | 71 | – | 218 |
| T18 | Steve Stricker | USA | 2 | 1 | 72 | 73 | 73 | – | 218 |
| T18 | Jimmy Walker | USA | 2 | 4 | 70 | 72 | 76 | – | 218 |
| T24 | Jamie Donaldson | WAL | 3 | 4 | 73 | 70 | 76 | – | 219 |
| T24 | Bernhard Langer | DEU | 3 | 1 | 72 | 74 | 73 | – | 219 |
| T24 | Rory McIlroy | NIR | 3 | -1 | 71 | 77 | 71 | – | 219 |
| T24 | Louis Oosthuizen | ZAF | 3 | 3 | 69 | 75 | 75 | – | 219 |
| T24 | Henrik Stenson | SWE | 3 | 2 | 73 | 72 | 74 | – | 219 |
| T29 | Steven Bowditch | AUS | 4 | 2 | 74 | 72 | 74 | – | 220 |
| T29 | Bill Haas | USA | 4 | 2 | 68 | 78 | 74 | – | 220 |
| T29 | Martin Kaymer | DEU | 4 | 1 | 75 | 72 | 73 | – | 220 |
| T29 | Hunter Mahan | USA | 4 | 2 | 74 | 72 | 74 | – | 220 |
| T29 | Vijay Singh | FJI | 4 | 2 | 75 | 71 | 74 | – | 220 |
| T34 | Stewart Cink | USA | 5 | 4 | 73 | 72 | 76 | – | 221 |
| T34 | Darren Clarke | NIR | 5 | 1 | 74 | 74 | 73 | – | 221 |
| T34 | Lucas Glover | USA | 5 | 5 | 75 | 69 | 77 | – | 221 |
| T34 | Jose Maria Olazabal | ESP | 5 | 1 | 74 | 74 | 73 | – | 221 |
| T38 | Brendon de Jonge | ZWE | 6 | 4 | 74 | 72 | 76 | – | 222 |
| T38 | Billy Horschel | USA | 6 | 3 | 75 | 72 | 75 | – | 222 |
| T38 | Thongchai Jaidee | THA | 6 | 3 | 73 | 74 | 75 | – | 222 |
| T38 | Thorbjorn Olesen | DNK | 6 | 4 | 74 | 72 | 76 | – | 222 |
| T42 | K.J. Choi | KOR | 7 | 6 | 70 | 75 | 78 | – | 223 |
| T42 | Oliver Goss | ENG | 7 | 4 | 76 | 71 | 76 | – | 223 |
| T42 | Francesco Molinari | ITA | 7 | 4 | 71 | 76 | 76 | – | 223 |
| T42 | Nick Watney | USA | 7 | 4 | 72 | 75 | 76 | – | 223 |
| T46 | Stephen Gallacher | SCO | 8 | 9 | 71 | 72 | 81 | – | 224 |
| T46 | Sandy Lyle | ENG | 8 | 4 | 76 | 72 | 76 | – | 224 |
| T46 | Brandt Snedeker | USA | 8 | 8 | 70 | 74 | 80 | – | 224 |
| T46 | Mike Weir | CAN | 8 | 7 | 73 | 72 | 79 | – | 224 |
| T50 | Joost Luiten | NLD | 9 | 5 | 75 | 73 | 77 | – | 225 |
| T50 | Larry Mize | USA | 9 | 7 | 74 | 72 | 79 | – | 225 |
Discover more from GolfBlogger Golf Blog
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
I’m pulling for Jimenez, the real most interesting man in the world.
My personal preferences aside, this has been a very fun and refreshing masters, to date!
I always pull for the old guys. So for me it is Couples or Jimenez.