Masters 2026 Tee Times, Pairings and Predictions for Saturday

Rory McIlroy heads into the weekend at The Masters with the largest 36-hole lead in tournament history.

The 2025 Masters champion has one arm in the sleeve of his second green jacket. He might just have to play even-par golf in Saturday and Sunday to claim the victory.

Only four other players recorded a 67 or better in the first two rounds. No one outside of McIlroy shot 67 or better on both days.

The chasing pack of golfers carries plenty of the sport's top names, but to even get close to McIlroy, they need to be perfect at least one day of the two this weekend.

Patrick Reed is the only other previous Masters champion in the top 10, but there are four other major champions that may be best poised to make a push at McIlroy's low score.

Notable Round 3 Tee Times

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1:55 p.m. ET: Jason Day, Cameron Young

2:06 p.m. ET: Haotong Li, Kristoffer Reitan

2:17 p.m. ET: Wyndham Clark, Tyrrell Hatton

2:28 p.m. ET: Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry

2:39 p.m. ET: Patrick Reed, Justin Rose

2:50 p.m. ET: Rory McIlroy, Sam Burns

Full list of third-round tee times can be found here on Masters.com.

Rory McIlroy Maintains Big Advantage

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Rory McIlroy's 67 and 65 on the opening two days at Augusta National Golf Club will be difficult to match, even by the 36-hole leader himself.

A six-birdie spree on the back nine, like McIlroy had on Friday afternoon, probably won't be in the cards, but McIlroy also doesn't have to go crazy to fend off his competition on Saturday.

McIlroy might use a more conservative approach on certain holes to maintain the six-stroke advantage he built up.

Even if McIlroy plays at an even-par pace on Saturday, he should leave the third round with a multi-shot lead.

All of the pressure now is on the chasing pack, who will have to be aggressive on certain holes to attempt to make up ground to the Northern Irishman.

Everything is set up for McIlroy to win the green jacket for the second year in a row. He's playing with less pressure than last year, when he was still chasing his first green jacket, so that should help him keep the big advantage throughout the weekend.

Patrick Reed Breaks Away From Chasing Pack

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Patrick Reed was the only other golfer to record a pair of scores in the 60s in the first two rounds.

Reed, the 2018 Masters champion, has been a fixture at the top of leaderboards at Augusta over the last decade.

The 35-year-old finished third a year ago and owns three other top-10 finishes since 2020.

Reed owns a total of five top-10 finishes in his career at Augusta. He has three top-10 placings at the other three majors combined.

He is a proven player at Augusta, and that should help with any nerves that many of the other golfers will face over the next two days.

Jon Rahm Records Low Round From Early Tee Times

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Jon Rahm will be one of the first golfers out on course on Saturday.

It's not the position the Spaniard wanted to be in, but he can still earn a respectable finishing spot come Sunday.

Rahm improved eight strokes from his Thursday 78 to sneak inside the cut line of four-over.

Rahm produced three birdies, one bogey and 14 pars on Friday. That was a far more steady round than his Thursday trip through Augusta.

If Rahm added a few more birdies to the round he produced on Friday, he can move up from his current tie for 48th potentially into the top 20.