Maybe one of these days, someone other than Jordan Spieth will be leading the Masters.
The 22-year-old Texan battled through blustery conditions to take a one-stroke edge over Rory McIlroy to Saturday’s third round, making Spieth the first player in the history of Augusta National to have the lead all to himself in six straight rounds.
He was on top from wire to wire a year ago, capturing his first green jacket in romp, and he’s held the top spot through the first 36 holes this year.
“I have two more days to give it everything I have, and that’s what we’ll do, just to try to keep myself right on top,” Spieth said.
While he was comfortably in front at this point a year ago, McIlroy figures to provide much stiffer competition. A four-time major champion, he needs only the Masters to claim the career Grand Slam.
“I’d rather be playing with someone less threatening, to be honest,” Spieth said. “He’s certainly proven himself in majors. But I think it’s going to be fun, a really fun challenge.”
There were gusts up to 30 mph during second round, which created one of the toughest scoring days in recent Masters memory.
Only four players got into the red, and no one broke 70 for the first time since the third round of the frigid 2007 tournament. McIlroy has won three major titles when leading at the midway point. He had commanding leads after the second round at both the 2011 US Open and 2014 British Open, and he was up by a stroke heading to the third round of the 2014 PGA Championship.
But McIlroy does have some experience coming from behind on the weekend. At the 2012 PGA Championship, he was two shots off the 36-hole lead at Kiawah Island. He took command with a third-round 67, and went on to an eight-stroke victory.
Jason Day came into the Masters as the world’s top-ranked player and betting favorite. He’s got some work to do, failing to break par in either of the first two rounds.
The Aussie, has struggled mightily since shooting a 5-under 31 on the first nine holes. He’s 6 over for his last 27 holes and desperately needs to get some momentum going.
lahiri makes cut
Anirban lahiri battled tough weather conditions and somewhat inconsistent breaks in the second round as he made the cut for the weekend at the prestigious Augusta Masters.
The Indian ace made the cut at T-47th. lahiri, who shot four-over 76 in the first round, began well to be two-under through 12 holes, before three bogeys pulled him down to one-over 73 and a total of five-over 149.
At that stage, he was in danger of missing the cut, which looked likely at four-over 148.
However, as conditions worsened with gusty winds going upwards 20-25 miles per hour, scores began to drop and the cut finally fell at six-over 150, giving lahiri a chance to improve upon his previous best of T-49 achieved on his debut last year.