Masters Payout 2016: Latest Projections for Top Prize-Money Earners
For the seventh consecutive round, Jordan Spieth is alone atop the Masters Tournament leaderboard in Augusta, Georgia.
As blustery conditions continued to make Augusta National Golf Club all the more challenging, Spieth remained relatively steady in Saturday's third round at three under par overall with a score of one-over 73.
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Spieth not only has the inside track to another green jacket, but he's also in prime position for the lucrative winner's share of $1.8 million from the $10 million Masters purse. The following is the projected prize money based on the current positions through 54 holes:
| 1 | Jordan Spieth | -3 | $1,800,000 |
| 2 | Smylie Kaufman | -2 | $1,080,000 |
| T3 | Bernhard Langer | -1 | $580,000 |
| T3 | Hideki Matsuyama | -1 | $580,000 |
| T5 | Jason Day | E | $365,000 |
| T5 | Dustin Johnson | E | $365,000 |
| T5 | Danny Willett | E | $365,000 |
| T8 | Lee Westwood | +1 | $290,000 |
| T8 | Brandt Snedeker | +1 | $290,000 |
| T8 | Soren Kjeldsen | +1 | $290,000 |
What was a highly anticipated final Round 3 pairing featuring Spieth and Rory McIlroy wound up being lopsided in favor of the reigning Masters champion.
McIlroy didn't make a single birdie en route to a five-over 77, all but erasing hopes of a duel between two of the game's brightest young stars on Sunday at Augusta National.
ESPN Stats & Info highlighted the extent of McIlroy's struggles:
With ground to make up and more favorable scoring conditions for the last round, though, the 26-year-old will be in attack mode and aggressive as he tries to make up strokes on Spieth, which could make for a compelling finish.
Plus, Spieth stumbled to the finish, carding a horrendous double-bogey six at No. 18 to diminish what was a rather prohibitive three-shot advantage standing on the last tee.
Ryan Lavner of Golf Channel referenced how Spieth's 18th-hole travails opened the door for so many possibilities:
There are plenty of other viable contenders who should give the 22-year-old a challenge for the green jacket too. Smylie Kaufman had the round of the day with a three-under 69 to get into the last Sunday pairing. Yet it's his Masters debut, so it's unclear what can be expected of him.
Anything for Bernhard Langer at this point is gravy. The two-time Masters winner is improbably in contention at age 58. ESPN.com's Jason Sobel highlighted how well Langer did alongside one of the hottest golfers on the planet in Jason Day:
Day stumbled on Thursday to a 41 on the back nine after exploding for a 31 out of the gates, yet he's shown exemplary perseverance and suddenly finds himself only three strokes off the lead.
After claiming the PGA Championship last August, defeating Spieth down the stretch, Day has some recent major experience to draw on as he aims to hold his second straight such title.
ESPN's Skip Bayless believes Day has the best chance to chase Spieth down:
Hideki Matsuyama, 24, is another young gun in the hunt, yet he had 34 putts on Saturday. His flat iron simply isn't good enough to get the job done at the Masters. Until he rights that area of his game, Matsuyama won't be able to break through on the biggest stage despite his ball-striking prowess.
Danny Willett and Dustin Johnson are more realistic contenders. The former is an emerging star who bogeyed par fives in the third round at Nos. 13 and 15—otherwise he'd be right in there at two under.
Johnson is still searching for his maiden major and has the type of power to take the fight to Augusta in the final round. He three-putted the last green at the 2015 U.S. Open to lose a golden chance to Spieth, but Johnson has hung tough this week.
Golf Channel's Justin Ray supplied context for the epic history Spieth is chasing on Masters Sunday:
So few of the closest challengers have had the type of scrutiny and applicable experience and have demonstrated clutch play under pressure like Spieth.
The extraordinary accomplishments Spieth has already achieved at age 22 still make him a prohibitive favorite. Putting will be the difference between who wins, and few are better than Spieth—even when he's not firing on all cylinders with that club.
Only Brandt Snedeker, who'll start Sunday at one over, has a comparable flat iron to Spieth's, yet the veteran has struggled with consistency and has never broken through at a major. If there's a dark horse bound to make a charge, Snedeker is a fine bet.
Short of a Snedeker surge, though, Spieth should still be perceived as the man to beat as he seeks to complete a Masters repeat.
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