2015 Masters: Saturday Leaderboard and Tournament Storylines to Watch

Jordan Spieth, who entered the third round of the 2015 Masters with a five-stroke lead, is on the course at Augusta National Golf Club. He's trying to maintain or extend that edge heading into what's always a pressure-packed Sunday at the season's first major.

A lot of players are making waves during afternoon play on Day 3. Perhaps the most notable being Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy making their presence felt by moving up the leaderboard just in case the 21-year-old American falls back toward the pack.

So let's check out how Spieth and the rest of the leaders shape up. That's followed by a look at some of the stories to watch for the rest of Saturday and into the final round.

2015 Masters Live Leaderboard

Storylines to Watch

Francois Nel/Getty Images

The biggest question over the next couple of days is how Spieth will handle the pressure. He found himself in a similar situation last year. He was in a tie for the lead with Bubba Watson after 54 holes before ultimately finishing tied for second.

Now he's in the position of trying to defend a solo lead, and a large one at that. It's a tricky position. A player doesn't want to play too aggressive and risk giving the lead back quickly, but becoming too passive can also be a problem.

Bill Pennington of The New York Times passed along his comments after Round 2 and, at the very least, it showed he has the right mindset.

"The last couple days, it doesn't mean anything unless I can close it out," Spieth said. "I don't want this to go in as the 36-hole record but as somebody who didn't win."

There were no signs of obvious nerves during the early portion of his third round.

That's despite likely hearing the roars from around the course as Woods and McIlroy began to make their move at about the same time. The fan favorites, who each began the day at 2-under par, quickly raced into the top 10.

That caught the attention of Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers:

For McIlroy, the charge doesn't come as much of a surprise. The world's top-ranked player won the final two majors of last season, the Open Championship and the PGA Championship, and entered the week as the favorite.

That wasn't the case for Woods. Expectations for him were all over the map as he returned from an extended layoff. While it hasn't quite been a vintage display so far, he's definitely looked far more competitive than most of his recent trips to majors.

Jason Sobel of ESPN remarked what many were probably thinking about the four-time Masters winner's play:

Woods and McIlroy aren't the only big names in the chase pack, either. Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Ernie Els and Justin Rose are all in the mix. Less heralded players like Charley Hoffman and Paul Casey are also hanging tough.

There have been plenty of mini spurts early on Saturday. Now the focus shifts to whether any of them can make a serious, sustained run at Spieth. It's going to take some terrific golf over the remaining holes to chase him down unless he makes some self-inflicted errors.

John Buccigross of ESPN provided his prediction for what the leader needs to do in order to finish the job:

It's not over. A lot of golf remains and many of the best golfers on the planet are lying in wait just in case Spieth leaves the door open even a little bit. But they are depending on him to make a couple of mistakes—otherwise, he'll cruise to the finish line.

In the bigger picture, everything fans have seen so far point toward a tremendous 2015 major season. If Woods can return to top form to go along with some of the young guns like McIlroy and Spieth, it would sure seem like there are some memorable battles ahead.

And that's exactly what golf needs.