Hideki Matsuyama has one arm inside the sleeve of the Green Jacket as the 85th Masters is his to win or lose on Sunday.
The Japanese star built a four-shot lead over the nine eight holes Saturday afternoon, taking advantage of greens softened by afternoon thunderstorms that halted play just before 4 p.m.
After an 85-minute delay, Matsuyama came out firing on all cylinders. He birdied the 11th and 12th as play resumed then hit the shot of the day when he fired his second at the par five 15th right at the left-side pin position and stopped it just five feet from the cup. He made the putt, got himself to nine-under and for the first time since Thursday, someone beside Justin Rose held the tournament lead.
But Matsuyama wasn’t through, he birdied the 16th to get to double-digits under par then added another at 17. A par at the 18th gave him a seven-under par 65 and an 11-under total. He takes a whopping lead into the final round with four contenders behind him.
Form and history dictate that you need to be no less than four shots from the lead with 18 to play, which brings Xander Schauffele (68), Marc Leishman (70), Rose (72) and young Will Zalatoris (70) into the chase.
Schauffele will play in the final pairing with Matsuyama and will need to apply some early pressure. Rose was once again erratic as he was on Friday and two even par efforts after an incredible opening 65 have left doubt as to his ability to contend over the final 18 holes.
Zalatoris introduced himself to the world this week after climbing in the world rankings. He has the game to go low and he’ll have to. Same for all four the the chasers.
Corey Conners was alone at six-under par after shooting 68 while Jordan Spieth was sitting at five-under and in need to a historic round to give himself any kind of chance.
Biggest disappointment of the third round was world No. 2 Justin Thomas’ performance over the final four holes. He dunked his third shot wedge at the par-five 14th into Rae’s Creek and went on to take a triple-bogey eight. He signed for 75 and bowed out of contention.
As for Matsuyama, he carries unusual pressure. No Japanese player has ever won a major. And the golf-crazed nation is longing for a major champion.
“This is a new experience for me being a leader going into the final round in a major,” Matsuyama said. “I guess all I can do is relax and prepare well and do my best.”
A good thing for Matsuyama is that he’s normally followed by a throng of photographers and reporters from Japan, that’s not the case this year with travel restrictions. “Being in front of the media is still difficult. It’s not my favorite thing to do,” Matsuyama said. It’s been a lot less stress for me. I’ve enjoyed this week.”
