Masters Leaderboard 2016: Updates on Golf's Top Scorers on Sunday
Defending champion Jordan Spieth enters the final day of the 2016 Masters in the lead, but after a sloppy finish to Round 3, the 22-year-old's advantage over the rest of the pack is just a single shot.
Things were looking great for Spieth through 16 holes on Saturday, as he seemed to navigate the treacherous conditions at the Augusta National Golf Club better than most, but a bogey on the 17th hole and a double bogey on the 18th brought his score down significantly.
Smylie Kaufman sits at two under par and one shot behind the leader, while Jason Day and Dustin Johnson enter the final round down three shots. Here's a look at the leaderboard:
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Here are some of the players to watch on Sunday.
Jordan Spieth (-3): 2:45 p.m. ET
Spieth has led the last seven rounds of the Masters and enters Sunday's final round as the clear favourite to win, despite his poor finish on Saturday. The youngster knows the course well and proved his killer instincts last season―per ESPN Stats & Info, he's been perfect in these kind of situations so far:
Paul Hayward of the Daily Telegraph added this statistic:
Spieth's short game put him in a fantastic position after Saturday's front nine, and it's what ultimately brought his score back down at the end of his round. The wind certainly played a role, but that was the case for anyone who took to the course.
The wind shouldn't be as much of a factor on Sunday, however, per Augusta's official website. But even with the improved weather, Augusta's greens look difficult to play this year, and Spieth's approaches will have to be perfect in the final round.
With the likes of Day and Johnson pushing up the leaderboard, Spieth knows there's everything still to play for, and he didn't seem too excited with his slim lead, per Sports Illustrated's Cameron Morfit: “Now it’s anyone’s game, so it’s tough to swallow that. I'm in the lead after 54 holes. If you told me that at the beginning of the week, I'd be obviously very pleased. So it's mixed feelings right now.”
Per PGA.com, Spieth's play on the front nine has been significantly better than on the back nine, so a quick start on Sunday will be key to victory.
Bernhard Langer (-1): 2:35 p.m. ET
It's easy to overlook Bernhard Langer, a veteran who is surrounded by a wealth of young talent on the leaderboard, but the German is a two-time Masters winner and has looked solid all week long. He was one of the few to shoot better than par on Saturday.
The 58-year-old finished his round two under to take his overall score to one under par, and he enters the final day just two shots behind the leader. In 1985, when he won his first Masters, he also sat two back after 54 holes.
Per Golfweek Magazine, Langer has played his fair share of golf at Augusta—therefore the course no longer has any secrets for him:
History works against Langer, as he's 12 years older than Jack Nicklaus was when he became the oldest winner of the Masters at the age of 46 in 1986, per golfer Steve Elkington. But records are meant to be broken, and we've yet to see Langer make any major mistakes this week.
A win for Langer would be quite the shock, but if he can keep things close with Spieth through the front nine, he'll have his chances to bridge the gap during the second half of his round.
Jason Day (E): 2:25 p.m. ET
Day has been far from perfect at this year's Masters, but he still enters the final round just three shots behind Spieth, thanks to a strong round of one-under golf on Saturday.
The Australian made several remarkable shots that saved his score, like this incredible birdie putt on the 14th, via the Masters' official Twitter account:
Down three shots, Day has no choice but to be aggressive from the first hole in an attempt to put pressure on the final pairings.
He opened his tournament with a superb 31 on the front nine before falling apart on the back nine. With the wind playing less of a factor on Sunday, another strong performance on the front nine could put some real pressure on Spieth and Kaufman.
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