Rory McIlroy at Masters 2015: Leaderboard Score, Twitter Reaction from Saturday

On a day that yielded several excellent scores at Augusta National, world No. 1 Rory McIlroy made a strong move up the leaderboard in the third round of the 2015 Masters.

The Northern Irish phenom turned in his best performance of the tournament by far Saturday as he fired a four-under 68, which put him at six-under overall and in a tie for eighth place when he entered the clubhouse.

Here is a look at the current leaderboard, with a full listing available at PGATour.com:

McIlroy seemed locked in from the very start, and that led to a scorecard that was littered with birdies and eagles:

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	In
Hole	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Out
Par	4	5	4	3	4	3	4	5	4	36
Score	4	3	4	3	4	3	4	4	3	32
Total	-2	-4	-4	-4	-4	-4	-4	-5	-6	32
Par	4	4	3	5	4	5	3	4	4	36
Score	4	4	3	4	4	4	4	4	5	36
Total	-6	-6	-6	-7	-7	-8	-7	-7	-6	68

The fact that the 25-year-old star came roaring out of the gate was certainly a good sign, but perhaps it shouldn't have come as much of a surprise considering how well he played down the stretch Friday.

After overcoming a slow start in the second round to shoot a 31 on the back nine, McIlroy seemed confident ahead of the weekend, according to Karen Crouse of The New York Times.

"I was just trying to get myself back to even par for the tournament," he said. "And then I did that pretty quickly on the back nine. So even though it was an up-and-down round, I finished on a high note and at least make myself feel a little bit better going into the weekend."

Rory's good form manifested itself on the par-five second hole when an eagle moved him to four-under for the tournament. Per Golf Central on Twitter, McIlroy certainly earned it by sinking a lengthy putt:

After five consecutive pars, the four-time major champion closed out the front nine in style as he birdied both the eighth and ninth holes to make his score six-under overall.

With a 32 on the front nine, that meant McIlroy had played nine-under golf over the course of 18 holes between Friday and Saturday, according to ESPN Stats & Info:

While Rory was charging harder than perhaps anyone else, he certainly wasn't alone as many other stars were turning in superb rounds as well.

With the likes of McIlroy, Tiger Woods and many more excelling, it made for some compelling television for golf fans Saturday, per Ron Sirak of GolfDigest.com:

McIlroy's steady play continued on the back nine as he birdied the 13th and 15th holes, which put him at six-under for the day and eight-under for the tourney.

As Rory and others continued to make their moves, even Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers couldn't help but be excited about the state of the 2015 Masters:

For as strong as McIlroy was playing, though, Jordan Spieth continued to hold steady at the top of the leaderboard after a historic opening 36 holes.

According to Josh Slagter of MLive.com, categorizing Rory as in the hunt was a bit premature without Spieth showing signs of crumbling:

McIlroy looked human for the first time all day on the par-three 16th as he bogeyed the hole after his tee shot ended up in the rough, per Augusta.com:

He was able to rebound with a par on the 17th, but his round ended on a somewhat sour note as his par putt on the 18th hole lipped out, causing him to drop his second stroke in three holes.

Despite the disappointing conclusion to his round, Rory undoubtedly took a major step forward and gave himself an outside chance to contend Sunday.

His status will largely be determined by what those around him do, but a sterling fourth round could get him into contention.

A Masters title is the one major championship that has eluded McIlroy to this point, and while winning his first green jacket in 2015 doesn't seem likely, his third-round performance at least made it possible.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter