So, what do you have planned for the afternoon? Yesterday was moving day, and move they did...
From Cameron Morfit's game story:
Jordan Spieth, 21, more than held up amid the roars generated by play ahead of him, butleft more than a sliver of doubt. After slipping with a double bogey at the 17th hole, Spieth avoided a late collapse with an unlikely par at the last and signed for a third-round 70. He’s at a tournament-record 16 under par and four shots clear of Justin Rose (67) heading into Sunday.
“I obviously would have liked to finish the round a little bit better,” Spieth said. “But it could have been worse, and I’m very pleased with that up and down on 18. It might have been a one in five. That took some guts.”
Phil Mickelson (67) is five shots back, while Charley Hoffman signed for a 1-under 71 and a 10-under total. No other player is fewer than 10 shots back.
Remember my explanation for not picking the leader? I was concerned about the sheer amount of golf he's played leading in, but I also noted that he could be mistake prone, and that aspect reared it's ugly head yesterday, in some short misses, a chunked chip and most notably in that swing on No.18. But we also saw the good Jordan, seven birdies covers many sins, and he's got those short-game chops and is, if not the best, then at least the hottest putter on the planet.
We also saw the effect of the soft golf course in minimizing damage.... that was quite the up-and-in on No. 18, but in a normal year who knows where the approach shot would have kicked and I doubt you'd see the flopper.
Conventional wisdom says that he'll be glad for the Justin Rose pairing, as Phil might have been more intimidating. Though I'm not sure that Spieth feels intimidation... but Rose kinda did to Phil there what he did to him on Sunday at Medinah.
Shack had this item yesterday morning, the gist of which is that 26 of ninety members of the press picked Spieth to win before the start of the event. That's a very strong performance by the scribes, you'd almost think they knew a little about the game... but you know who else picked Jordan? No, not your humble blogger, I had Jason Day who's going to break through any...err, what's the word, day now. Employ No. 2 nailed it, assuming nothing too dramatic happens today...
The hugging meme has really caught on....first it was Nick Faldo complaining that he as the only one not a beneficiary of the new, touchy-feely Tiger. Now comes the ancient twitterer, commenting on yesterday's Tiger-Sergio grouping:
:
Dan Jenkins
Tiger and Sergio, who don't like each other, are paired today. If Sergio gets a hug, I might be the only one who doesn't get one this week.
My how things have changed...not only did the pairing go off without a hitch, but in his post-round presser Tiger even noted how a fine shot by Sergio helped him with a putt on No. 13. Oh, and I do hope you caught Tiger's birdie on No. 13, that was quite sick. It may be the first birdie to ever start with an F-bomb....
I mentioned the tracking capabilities of the Masters app earlier in the week, here's what that hole looked like:
I missed it on the broadcast, but apparently the second shot was a screaming hook, and it was quite amazing that he even had a look at the green on his third.
But despite the Era of Good Feelings, after that fake interview Augusta will freeze over before Dan gets any Tiger love.
Did you catch Phil's comments after the round?
In his CBS interview following the third round of the Masters on Saturday, Mickelsonsaid he’d wear black on Sunday. “Helps me get more aggressive,” he said. “Studies have shown that when NFL teams wear black they have more penalties.”
Really, Phil? Apparently so, according to a 1988 study by a professor of psychology at Cornell Thomas Gilovich and a graduate student Mark G. Frank that waspublished in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
Phil, you do know that in our game penalties are a bad thing?
And in our "Real life imitating art" item of the day, remember that Nike commercial? Yanno, this one:
Two groups ahead of the leader, they'll be paired together.....
Though Shack gives them no lover in his readers' poll to predict the winner, with the following options:
- Jordan Spieth
- Phil Mickelson
- Justin Rose
- Charley Hoffman
- Someone else
Really Geoff? How soon they forget...
Enjoy and we'll get together for a post-mortem Monday morning.
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