Its Moving Day at Augusta National and we’ve got the top 5 storylines to follow on day 3 of The Masters.
Jason Day, Fancesco Molinari, Louis Oosthuzien, Brooks Koepka and Adam Scott are all tied for the lead heading into day 3 of the 83rd edition of The Masters and each of them also hold the distinction of winning a major, including Scott who captured the Green Jacket in 2013. Following closely behind is a guy you may have heard of before, his name is Tiger Woods. Everyone’s favorite party crasher, Phil Mickelson is just 3 strokes behind the leaders.
Pack up the truck, its Moving Day
The Masters seems to bring out the best in leaderboards. A staggering collection of talent is displayed on the famous white leaderboards at Augusta National Golf Club.
Molinari, Day, Koepka, Scott, Oosthuizen are all tied for the lead at 7 under. This is the first time in major championship history that five major winners are tied for the lead.
At -6 are 14x major champion and the arguable GOAT, Tiger Woods as well as 2016 U.S. Open winner Dustin Johnson. At -5, Jon Rahm and Ian Poulter. The leaderboard scoring fam with the long posts will be getting a workout Saturday.
To be the Man you Gotta Beat the Man
If you’ve watched either of the first two rounds of The Masters at a bar or share a cubical wall with a co-worker streaming coverage against company policy, then you know that even in 2019, there’s no single golfer that captures the imagination and makes random weekend warriors drop their beer to fist pump more than GOAT candidate Eldrick “Tiger” Woods.
Woods hasn’t won a Green Jacket since 2005, or a major since 2008, but after his performances in the first two rounds, you wouldn’t know it. Woods is in position to win his fifth green jacket and 15th major, just one shot out of the lead after rounds of 70-68. His driver has been on point generating ball speeds unseen by the field and in round two his putter came along for the ride too. If Woods can get his entire game together on moving day, we could be in for one of the most exciting final rounds at Augusta in over a decade.
The Party Crasher
Phil Mickelson is at it again. Despite a 73 in the second round, Phil is in the conversation to win his fourth green jacket. Only Woods, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus have won the Masters four times (Nicklaus a record six times). Lefty also could become the oldest major champion with a victory. He’s 48 years, 10 months old; Julius Boros won the 1968 PGA Championship at 48 years, 4 months.
Mickelson’s game in round 2 resembled what we’ve seen from Phil so many times, he builds a little momentum, then drives the ball into gator swamp and then follows it up with the most miraculous shot ever seen to save par. Phil’s chances in the 83rd Masters hinge on what he does in round 3. The field at the top is just too strong for Mickelson to make up more than 3 strokes on Sunday.
Rain Rain Go Away
Thunderstorms were a factor in Round 2. In fact, Tiger Woods was building some serious momentum before alarms started ringing out throughout the course like Augusta was about to be hit by a bombing raid. Woods had just stuck a green looking for consecutive birdies. The weather undoubtedly will also affect green speeds on Saturday.
Scattered thunderstorms are in the forecast for Saturday, and Sunday looks like it could have the worst weather, with severe thunderstorms and strong winds in the forecast. As if this tournament doesn’t have enough drama surrounding it already.
The Dark Horse
While most of the cameras will be fixed on the journey to redemption for Tiger Woods, Xander Schauffele is quietly painting his Rembrandt. Schauffele is our dark horse if he can continue his momentum. The 25-year-old American had the best second round of anyone on the green with a 65. He has three top-10 finishes in his career and two 2019 PGA wins, per PGA Tour.
Saturday’s Pairings and Tee Times
All times Eastern
9:05 a.m.: Eddie Pepperell
9:15 a.m.: Branden Grace, Emiliano Grillo
9:25 a.m.: Zach Johnson, Takumi Kanaya
9:35 a.m.: Alex Noren, Billy Horschel
9:45 a.m.: Martin Kaymer, Devon Bling
9:55 a.m.: Henrik Stenson, Haotong Li
10:05 a.m.: Keith Mitchell, Aaron Wise
10:15 a.m.: Tyrrell Hatton, Patrick Cantlay
10:25 a.m.: Hideki Matsuyama, Trevor Immelman
10:35 a.m.: Satoshi Kodaira, Andrew Landry
10:45 a.m.: Cameron Smith, Matthew Fitzpatrick
11:05 a.m.: Marc Leishman, Rory McIlroy
11:15 a.m.: Si Woo Kim, Kyle Stanley
11:25 a.m.: Keegan Bradley, Bubba Watson
11:35 a.m.: Kevin Na, Alvaro Ortiz
11:45 a.m.: Viktor Hovland, Jimmy Walker
11:55 a.m.: Patrick Reed, Webb Simpson
12:05 p.m.: Jordan Spieth, Kevin Tway
12:15 p.m.: Bernhard Langer, Rafael Cabrera Bello
12:25 p.m.: Charley Hoffman, Tommy Fleetwood
12:35 p.m.: J.B. Holmes, Lucas Bjerregaard
12:45 p.m.: Thorbjorn Olesen, Kevin Kisner
1:05 p.m.: Gary Woodland, Rickie Fowler
1:15 p.m.: Corey Conners, Tony Finau
1:25 p.m.: Bryson DeChambeau, Justin Thomas
1:35 p.m.: Charles Howell III, Kiradech Aphibarnrat
1:45 p.m.: Matt Kuchar, Phil Mickelson
1:55 p.m.: Jon Rahm, Patton Kizzire
2:05 p.m.: Tiger Woods, Ian Poulter
2:15 p.m.: Justin Harding, Xander Schauffele
2:25 p.m.: Louis Oosthuizen, Dustin Johnson
2:35 p.m.: Brooks Koepka, Adam Scott
2:45 p.m.: Francesco Molinari, Jason Day