The Masters – R3

April 11-14
Augusta National GC, Augusta, Georgia
$11,000,000
Live leaderboard
Round 1, Round 2, Round 4

Reigning Race to Dubai Champion Francesco Molinari will take a two-shot lead into the final round at The Masters Tournament, where he will go up against Tiger Woods once again as the battle for the Green Jacket intensifies at Augusta National Golf Club.

© Getty Images

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“Very, very happy again. I thought maybe I played slightly better yesterday, but today, mentally was very good. Made two big putts on four and five to save pars, and then kind of got going from there.

“I played the back nine probably as good as I’ve ever played over here, so really pleased about that. And then a good save on 18, so nice to keep another clean scorecard.

“My plan for tomorrow is to go out and do the same, but I think there’s going to be a few guys trying to mess up with my plan.

“The favorite is probably the golf course out there waiting for us. We are all very close. Obviously, it’s nice to be a little bit ahead, but you might just need one hole to change. You never know how it’s going to go, especially around a course like here.”

The Italian’s bogey-free round of 66 took him to 13 under par, ahead of American European Tour member Tony Finau – whose eight under par 64 was the joint lowest round of the day – and four-time Masters winner Woods, who Molinari played alongside as he triumphed in The Open Championship at Carnoustie Golf Links last summer.

“I got off to a nice start,” said Finau. “I was happy to make birdie on one. I hit two great shots and a putt that just barely lipped in on one and was kind of off to the races there. A couple of tap‑ins on two and three and I was just on my way, I kind of got in that zone.

“I looked up at the leaderboard, and I knew I just needed to keep making birdies, because I knew they were going to have a lot of opportunities, the guys that were playing well. I was happy to post the number I did, but more than anything, just keep my foot on the gas pedal and not let off. I’m well in contention, and I’m happy about that.”

The trio are grouped together for what is set up to be an enthralling – but early – final day, with the players going off two tees in three balls, and play starting at 7.30 am in a bid to beat forecasted afternoon storms.

Molinari will join an illustrious group if he triumphs in the first Major of the season, as only four reigning Open champions have won The Masters – Arnold Palmer (1962), Seve Ballesteros (1980), Tom Watson (1981) and Woods (2001).

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But the 36-year-old will have to stay ahead of a packed leaderboard on Sunday, with three-time Major winner Brooks Koepka just three shots off the lead and one behind Finau and Woods at ten under par, and England’s Ian Poulter one shot further back alongside 2012 U.S. Open Champion Webb Simpson.

“I can only do what I can do at this point,” said Poulter. “I need to make some birdies tomorrow. The greens are soft, this course is receptive. We’re all out early tomorrow, so we’re all on the golf course and we’re going to know what is happening. If someone is going low we’re going to see it. Just got to go as low as you can go and see what happens.

“I birdied 13, 15 and obviously the last. I had a couple of other opportunities, which I didn’t take. Didn’t up and down 11, which was frustrating really going in with seven iron. Should have hit it in the middle of the green, didn’t, pushed it a little bit. Paid the price for the only mistake of the day.

“Tee to green I’m playing well. Just need to hole a couple more putts and hopefully I’ll have a chance.”

Masters debutant Justin Harding and fellow South African and 2010 Open Champion Louis Oosthuizen are amongst a group of five players at eight under par.

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Pos.	Player	To Par	R1	R2	R3	Total
1	Francesco Molinari	-13	70	67	66	203
T2	Tony Finau	-11	71	70	64	205
T2	Tiger Woods	-11	70	68	67	205
4	Brooks Koepka	-10	66	71	69	206
T5	Webb Simpson	-9	72	71	64	207
T5	Ian Poulter	-9	68	71	68	207
T7	Matt Kuchar	-8	71	69	68	208
T7	Justin Harding	-8	69	69	70	208
T7	Xander Schauffele	-8	73	65	70	208
T7	Dustin Johnson	-8	68	70	70	208
T7	Louis Oosthuizen	-8	71	66	71	208
T12	Rickie Fowler	-7	70	71	68	209
T12	Adam Scott	-7	69	68	72	209
T14	Patrick Cantlay	-6	73	73	64	210
T14	Thorbjorn Olesen	-6	71	71	68	210
T14	Justin Thomas	-6	73	68	69	210
T14	Phil Mickelson	-6	67	73	70	210
T14	Jon Rahm	-6	69	70	71	210
T14	Jason Day	-6	70	67	73	210
T20	Bubba Watson	-5	72	72	67	211
T20	Lucas Bjerregaard	-5	70	72	69	211
T22	Jordan Spieth	-4	75	68	69	212
T22	Tommy Fleetwood	-4	71	71	70	212
T22	Corey Conners	-4	70	71	71	212
T25	Henrik Stenson	-3	74	72	67	213
T25	Hideki Matsuyama	-3	75	70	68	213
T25	Matthew Fitzpatrick	-3	78	67	68	213
T25	Cameron Smith	-3	70	74	69	213
T25	Kevin Tway	-3	72	71	70	213
T25	Patton Kizzire	-3	70	70	73	213
T31	Aaron Wise	-2	75	71	68	214
T31	Marc Leishman	-2	72	72	70	214
T31	Si Woo Kim	-2	72	72	70	214
T31	Kyle Stanley	-2	72	72	70	214
T31	Viktor Hovland (a)	-2	72	71	71	214
T31	Charley Hoffman	-2	71	71	72	214
T31	Kevin Kisner	-2	69	73	72	214
T31	Bryson DeChambeau	-2	66	75	73	214
T39	Takumi Kanaya (a)	-1	73	74	68	215
T39	Rory McIlroy	-1	73	71	71	215
T39	Keegan Bradley	-1	76	68	71	215
T39	Gary Woodland	-1	70	71	74	215
T43	Jimmy Walker	E	72	72	72	216
T43	J.B. Holmes	E	70	72	74	216
T43	Kiradech Aphibarnrat	E	69	72	75	216
T43	Charles Howell III	E	73	67	76	216
T47	Kevin Na	1	71	73	73	217
T47	Alvaro Ortiz (a)	1	73	71	73	217
T47	Patrick Reed	1	73	70	74	217
T50	Devon Bling (a)	2	74	73	71	218
T50	Keith Mitchell	2	72	74	72	218
T50	Tyrrell Hatton	2	73	73	72	218
T50	Satoshi Kodaira	2	75	70	73	218
T50	Andrew Landry	2	72	73	73	218
T50	Rafa Cabrera Bello	2	73	70	75	218
T50	Bernhard Langer	2	71	72	75	218
T57	Eddie Pepperell	3	74	73	72	219
T57	Branden Grace	3	72	75	72	219
T57	Martin Kaymer	3	73	74	72	219
T57	Haotong Li	3	72	74	73	219
T61	Emiliano Grillo	4	72	75	73	220
T61	Zach Johnson	4	74	73	73	220
T63	Billy Horschel	5	72	75	74	221
T63	Trevor Immelman	5	74	72	75	221
65	Alex Noren	6	75	72	75	222
CUT	Sandy Lyle	4	73	75	—	148
CUT	Stewart Cink	4	76	72	—	148
CUT	Justin Rose	4	75	73	—	148
CUT	Kevin O’Connell (a)	4	77	71	—	148
CUT	Mike Weir	4	72	76	—	148
CUT	Danny Willett	4	75	73	—	148
CUT	Sergio Garcia	4	73	75	—	148
CUT	Adam Long	5	75	74	—	149
CUT	Brandt Snedeker	5	75	74	—	149
CUT	Fred Couples	5	78	71	—	149
CUT	Charl Schwartzel	5	77	72	—	149
CUT	Shugo Imahira	6	76	74	—	150
CUT	Larry Mize	7	77	74	—	151
CUT	Shane Lowry	7	78	73	—	151
CUT	Matt Wallace	8	75	77	—	152
CUT	Jovan Rebula (a)	8	73	79	—	152
CUT	Michael Kim	10	76	78	—	154
CUT	Paul Casey	10	81	73	—	154
CUT	Vijay Singh	12	80	76	—	156
CUT	Ian Woosnam	12	80	76	—	156
CUT	Jose Maria Olazabal	13	78	79	—	157
CUT	Angel Cabrera	13	82	75	—	157