AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — The Latest on the Masters, the final golf major of the year (all times EST):
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5:10 p.m.
Dustin Johnson tied the Masters' 54-hole record at 16-under 200, shooting a 7-under 65 in the third round.
Johnson matched the mark set by Jordan Spieth in his 2015 victory.
Johnson is the first player to shoot two rounds of 65 or better in the same tournament. He was four strokes clear of the field, with a few groups still on the course.
The world’s No. 1 ranked player was among five players who started the round at 9 under. He quickly distanced himself from the pack with an eagle on the second hole, then followed with birdies on Nos. 3, 4 and 7. He has played 30 straight holes without a bogey.
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4:10 p.m.
It's been tough day for Lefty at Augusta National.
Phil Mickelson struggled to a 7-over 79 in the third round, matching the worst score of his Masters career.
The 50-year-old, three-time winner came into the day hoping to surge into contention after shooting 5-under 139 through 36 holes.
But Mickelson fell apart on Moving Day, making bogeys on five of the first seven holes. A triple-bogey 8 at the 15th finished off any hopes of salvaging a respectable score.
Mickelson drove into a batch of pine trees, then actually went backward when his second shot ricocheted off one of the trees. He pitched out into the rough, only to swat his next shot over the green, the ball rolling into the pond on the 16th hole.
Mickelson also shot 79 in the second round of the 2016 and 2018 tournaments. This was his worst performance on a weekend.
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3:30 p.m.
Tiger Woods made a birdie on his 10th hole of the opening round at the Masters to reach 4-under par. He played the next 44 holes in just 1 under.
Woods needed a big move in the third round and was stuck in neutral. He didn't make a birdie until the 12th hole, and that was after he made a pair of bogeys. He wound up with a 72 in the third round and when he finished, he was nine shots out of the lead.
It looks like that pursuit of a sixth green jacket will have to wait until April.
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3 p.m.
Already trying to recover from a 75 in the opening round, Rory McIlroy has something else he wishes he could have back at the Masters: the 13th hole.
McIlroy still managed a 5-under 67 in the third round Saturday and was at 8-under par. He was six behind Dustin Johnson, who still had eights holes (and two par 5s) ahead of him.
McIlroy ran off three straight birdies around the turn and then holed out from the front bunker on the par-3 12th hole to reach 5 under on his round. He hit a beautiful pitch to just inside 10 feet for birdie on the 13th. But he missed the putt, and his 3-foot par putt spun out, leading to a three-putt bogey.
In the opening round, he hit his tee shots into the azalea bushes and had to take a penalty drop, making bogey. He has played the hole in 2 over for the week.
The par-5 15th was another lost opportunity Saturday when he hit into the water for his second shot and had to scramble for par.
McIlroy needs the green jacket to complete the career Grand Slam. His chances Sunday depend largely on how Johnson, Justin Thomas and the other contenders fare on the back nine.
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2:40 p.m.
Dustin Johnson is threatening to pull away at the Masters.
Looking to capture his second major title, Johnson made the turn at 5-under 31 to push three shots clear of the field. He missed birdie attempts at the eighth and ninth holes, missing a chance to match the Augusta National scoring record for the front nine.
Johnson, who began the day in a five-way tie for the top spot, pushed ahead of Abraham Ancer and Justin Thomas, both at 11 under. Sungjae Im was another shot back, the only other player within five shots of the lead.
Johnson got on a roll with an eagle at the second hole, where his 222-yard approach stopped 3 feet from the flag for a virtual gimme. He followed with birdies at the next two holes, rolling in a 40-foot putt at the par-3 fourth.
Johnson kept up his onslaught with another brilliant approach at No. 7, the ball spinning back for toward the cup for a 2-foot tap-in.
Johnson won the U.S. Open in 2016. He has been a runner-up in the other three majors, including a tie for second behind Tiger Woods at the 2019 Masters.
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2:25 p.m.
Jon Rahm topped a shot from the fairway. He hit a tree. He had to take a drop from the azalea bushes. All this on one hole that didn't help his chances of catching Dustin Johnson at the Masters.
Rahm, who started the third round in a five-way share of the lead, was in the fairway on the par-5 eighth when he took a short swing from a hanging lie and caught only the top of the ball. It squirted to the left. He tried to punch it through the pine trees but struck one, and the ball caromed left into the bushes.
After a penalty drop, Rahm hit onto the green, and then gunned his putt 6 feet by. He made that one for double bogey.
It dropped him to 8 under for the tournament, six shots behind Johnson.
It already has been a memorable week for Rahm. He had a hole-in-one on No. 4 during practice. He skipped a shot on the pond at No. 16 and made another hole-in-one. And he turned 26 on Tuesday. He could have done without Saturday's kind of excitement.
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1:20 p.m.
Tiger Woods made the turn at the Masters and isn't making up any ground. He began the third round four shots off the lead. When he reached the 10th tee, he was nine shots behind Dustin Johnson.
Woods found a fairway bunker off the tee at the par-5 second and couldn't reach the green in two. The real problem was on the par-5 eighth. He drove left into the trees, slashed out across the fairway in mild rough and from 160 yards came up well short of the pin. Woods three-putted from 50 feet for bogey.
He made the turn at 1-over 37 and was 4 under for the tournament.
Johnson, meanwhile, hit his long iron to 2 feet for eagle on the second hole. He hit a lofted pitched to 5 feet on the third, and then holed a 40-foot birdie putt on the fourth to reach 13-under par.
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12:45 p.m.
Rickie Fowler seemed stunned when he made an unlikely birdie on the seventh hole at the Masters.
The 2018 runner-up was off the fairway to the right on his tee shot at the 450-yard, par 4. Then he chipped in, drawing applause from playing partner Tiger Woods. Fowler just stood there, jokingly counting on his fingers, as if he couldn’t believe he just made a 3.
The shot improved him to 4-under par for the tournament.
Dustin Johnson followed his eagle on No. 2 with a birdie on the third hole, moving to 12 under and maintaining his two-stroke lead. Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas are next at 10 under.
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12:30 p.m.
Dustin Johnson eagled the second hole at Augusta National to move into the lead alone in the Masters.
The world's top-ranked player is 11-under par through two holes in the third round. Eight players were two strokes back. Patrick Reed, Sebastian Munoz, Sungjae Im and Hideki Matsuyama all got off to good starts to improve to 9 under. They joined Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm, Abraham Ancer and Cameron Smith, who started the day there.
On the 575-yard, par-5 second hole, Johnson followed a 363-yard drive with an approach that ended up 3 feet from the pin.
The third round is fully underway after four dozen players had to come back Saturday morning to finish up 36 holes. Fifty-nine players made the cut at even par or better.
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10:20 a.m.
U.S. Open winner Bryson DeChambeau and PGA Championship winner Collin Morikawa have squeaked past the Masters cut at even par.
The defending champions at the year's other two majors just made it to the third round in a tie for 50th. The top 50 plus ties were to make the cut this year, when the rule was eliminated that allowed anyone within 10 strokes of the lead to play the weekend.
That would have brought in everyone at 1 over — another seven players, including Matt Kuchar, who has made the cut in his last 10 Masters.
Five players were tied for the lead heading into the third round: World No. 1 Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm, Abraham Ancer and Cameron Smith. Another five were one stroke back.
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9:45 a.m.
Bryson DeChambeau says he had himself tested for COVID-19 on Friday night after feeling dizzy at the Masters.
The U.S. Open champion says he was feeling dizzy on Thursday night but was fine the next day. Still, he thought it was worth getting checked.
“I had to do the right thing and make sure that there was nothing more serious than that,” he said after finishing his second round with a 74 to sit at even par through the tournament.
DeChambeau was right on the borderline for the cut. He was tied for 49th with about a dozen golfers still to complete a second round that was postponed until Saturday morning because of darkness.
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9:10 a.m.
A bogey on the 18th hole was tough for Bryson DeChambeau but good news for those at the Masters who were sweating out the cut line.
The 5 on the last hole left DeChambeau with a 74 in the second round and dropped him to even par for the tournament. It also moved him from a seven-way tie for 43rd place to an 11-way tie for 49th.
And all those other players at even par were now above the cut line. The top 50 scores and ties will play the weekend.
DeChambeau came into the Masters promising to fire away at reachable greens on the par 5s. That worked out OK in the first round, when he shot 70. Not so much in the second.
DeChambeau had six bogeys and a triple bogey in the second round. He played the four par 5s at 3 under but his attempt to drive the green on the 350-yard, par-4 third hole left him with a seven.
DeChambeau then had to wait to find out if he will make the cut. The last group was finishing up its 15th hole.
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8:15 a.m.
Jon Rahm has joined the leaders at 9 under par at the Masters.
Rahm birdied No. 13 to start his day after play was suspended mid-round because of darkness on Friday night. The Spaniard is through 15 holes and is 6 under for the tournament.
World No. 1 Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Abraham Ancer and Cameron Smith are also 9 under at Augusta National. About four dozen players couldn't complete 36 holes and were back on the course Saturday morning.
The top 50 and ties will make the cut once the second round is completed. Then they'll head back out for Round 3.
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8:10 a.m.
Vijay Singh has withdrawn from the Masters because of illness after completing 10 holes in the second round.
Singh shot 75 in the first round.
It was the 20th anniversary of his 2000 victory at Augusta National.
