Hideki Matsuyama is within touching distance of becoming the first Japanese player to win a Major championship after shooting a 65 on Saturday to take a four-shot lead into the final day of the Masters.
The 29-year-old posted the first bogey-free round at Augusta this week to surge past long-time leader Justin Rose and top the leaderboard on 11 under and become the odds-on favourite to slip on the coveted green jacket tomorrow.
Rose scrambled to a second successive level-par 72, following his first round 65, and is one of four players at seven under. He is joined by Americans Xander Schauffele and Will Zalatoris and Australia’s Marc Leishman.
Jordan Spieth, the 2015 champion, is two shots further back after recovering from a double bogey at seven to card a 72 that leaves him at five under. Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre, playing in his first ever Masters, sits at two under par in joint 10th after a second successive 70, with the 24 year old bagging six birdies along the way.
Among the second round leaders to slip out of contention on moving day included world number two Justin Thomas, who began the day just three shots back. Things look bright for the world no.2 when he birdied the second and third, but a mid-round collapse, which included three bogeys and a calamitous triple-bogey eight at the 13th, saw the former US PGA champion to slip to one under par.
On a day which saw play suspended for more than an hour because of a passing storm, there was plenty of late movement in the leaderboard, with Matsuyama, who was playing in the sixth to last group, starting steadily with pars on his opening six holes before a birdie at seven preceded an impressive run. Successive birdies on 11 and 12 saw him move into a share of the lead with Rose, who once again struggled for consistency on the front nine. That became a three-way tie for top spot when Zalatoris, playing in the final pairing alongside Rose, birdied the 10th. Schauffele briefly made it four players in a share of the lead with an eagle at the par-five 15th, only for Rose to birdie 12 moments later and edge clear again at eight under.
But it was Matsuyama who jumped into the outright lead seconds later with an eagle of his own at the 15th saw him jump to nine under. He then extended his lead to two after hitting his tee shot at the par-three 16th to four feet and holing out for birdie, and then stretched that advantage to three with a 10-foot birdie putt at 17.
The leader gave the chasing pack brief hope of closing up when his approach to 18 flew the green, but the world no.26 made a superb recovery to save par and set and keep his lead to four, as other players struggled to find the pace on the slowing greens.
Rose still harbours hopes of bagging his second major, but knows that Matsuyama is largely in control of the destiny of the tournament, and anything under par from the leader will make the chasing pack’s job very difficult. “It was a tricky day, when the storm was approaching it was really windy,” said Rose. “When we came back out it felt there was a period of time to make a score, but then the greens slowed up a lot. I had to work hard and after 12 holes I thought I was in a nice spot, but then Hideki hit the jets and I hit the brakes a bit. A lot is to do with how Hideki plays, but there is a big chasing pack waiting. I’m in a good spot.”