Masters Leaderboard 2016: Sunday Score Updates and Tournament Predictions

Jordan Spieth finished the third round at the Masters on Saturday on top for a record seventh straight time, per the Austin American-Statesman's Kirk Bohls. 

However, it didn't come easy, as the No. 2-ranked player on the PGA Tour finished three over during his final two holes and leads 24-year-old Smylie Kaufman by just one stroke.

Spieth will most likely be focusing on the feeling he had last year after earning his first green jacket instead of his poor finish, per the PGA Tour.

"I’ve just got to absolutely throw this away," he said. "I’ve got to throw away the finish to this round."

Kaufman, who is in second place in his first Masters, should want to remember everything he did Saturday, as his 69 was the only round under 70 on the day.

Although if you ask the young golfer, who revealed he still lives at home in an interesting interview with Jim Nantz of CBS (h/t Luke Kerr-Dineen of For the Win), he seems to think it was just another day on the job. "I tend to play well on hard golf courses...Today I just kind of plodded along," Kaufman said, per Mike O'Malley of Golf Digest.

With Bernhard Langer and Hideki Matsuyama sitting just two strokes behind Spieth, and another six golfers just four strokes out, it should be a great finish on Sunday.

Here's a look at the leaderboard, as well as some predictions for the final 18 holes:

Predictions for Sunday

McIlroy Makes a Run

Rory McIlroy may have had a bad Saturday, but don't count on him having a bad Sunday.

The No. 3 golfer on the tour has two top-four finishes in his last three outings and was playing with Spieth in the final group for Round 3. However, his 77 dropped him five strokes off the lead in a tie for 11th place.

According to the PGA Tour, McIlroy had a streak of 80 straight major rounds with at least one birdie snapped on Saturday. The chances of that happening again are slim. Chalk Round 3 up as a fluke and expect the 26-year-old to bounce back and even push for a victory.

In fact, according to Christopher Clarey of the New York Times, he plans to take advantage of Spieth's late mishaps.

“To be honest with you, I would be feeling a lot worse about myself, if I hadn’t just seen what Jordan did the last two holes,” McIlroy said. “I sort of take a bit of heart from that, that I’m still in this golf tournament.”

As well as Kaufman and the others have played, a motivated McIlroy will have what it takes to push Spieth for the championship.

Spieth Wins Another Jacket

There is no doubt Spieth left the door open for others golfers to sneak in and take the lead from him, but expect him to become the first golfer since Tiger Woods (remember him?) in 2001 and 2002 to garner a green jacket in back-to-back years.

Despite the mishap, he's still locked in. No one has finished a Masters round in the lead other than Spieth since 2014, per the PGA Tour:

He proved he can come back from adversity Saturday after a near-disastrous double bogey on 11.

All he did was birdie three of the four next holes and expand his lead to four strokes. What had to be frustrating for the 22-year-old was the fact he did not have a chance to bounce back from Nos. 17 and 18, per Brian Wacker of PGATour.com.

“I mean honestly, I think it will be tough to put it behind,” Spieth said. “I think I will, but that wasn't a fun last couple holes to play from the position I was in.”

That's not the kind of approach that is going to help someone in a game that is roughly 99 percent mental, but there wasn't much else he could say.

By the time he woke on Sunday, it was most likely in the rearview mirror, and now he's focused on leading for the eighth straight round.

Even McIlroy knows Spieth has the advantage but isn't conceding just yet, per Wacker.

“He's sitting on top of the leaderboard, where he has been for basically the last three years here, so he's going out there (Sunday) and it's his to lose,” McIlroy said. “There's a few guys that have a chance and I feel like if I can get off to a good start, you never know." 

He's right that the tournament is far from over, but with Spieth in the lead, it might as well be.