Jordan Spieth Faces Long Odds at Masters 2018 After Shooting 1 Under on Saturday

Jordan Spieth's chances of earning a second green jacket all but ended on Saturday.

While Spieth shot a respectable one-under 71, he went into the clubhouse at five under for the tournament and nine strokes behind the leader, Patrick Reed, with just one round remaining. While that number could change, Spieth likely would need an epic showing Sunday—and a pretty huge meltdown from players like Reed, Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler—to get back in the running.

For Spieth, it was another disappointing round after his excellent six-under 66 to start the tournament. He followed that up with a 74 on Friday, and his 71 on Saturday wasn't enough to propel him back into contention.

Things started fine for Spieth, who parred his first four holes, but a bogey on No. 5 put him behind the eight ball. He recovered on No. 7 with a key birdie, though another bogey on No. 9 left him at one over on his front nine.

After three straight pars, Spieth pulled level again with a birdie on No. 13. He followed that up with a birdie on No. 15, though he shot par from there, failing to make up any ground on the leaders.

He certainly had a few gorgeous approaches on the day, per Masters Highlights:

Were Spieth to somehow come back and win this tournament, it wouldn't just be an incredible feat but also a historic one. The largest deficit ever overcome in the final round in Masters history was eight strokes by Jack Burke Jr. in 1956, breaking the heart of amateur player Ken Venturi.

Of course, if there is a player in the world capable of erasing a nine-stroke deficit, it's probably Spieth. But Reed has also been the picture of consistency at Augusta, shooting a 69, 66 and 67, respectively, in his three rounds.

McIlroy, three strokes behind Reed, is also fresh off a scintillating 65 and a major threat to win the tournament. He wasn't the only player to shoot a 65 on Saturday—both Fowler (nine-under for the tournament) and Jon Rahm (eight-under) did as well.

Golf writer Dan Jenkins perhaps put it best:

So Spieth not only needs a legendary round, he also needs four red-hot players to simultaneously cool off at the same time. His fans probably shouldn't hold their breaths on Sunday, in other words.