Jason Day remains an outside chance to win his first green jacket, but Min Woo Lee had a day to forget at Augusta National.
Two weeks after claiming his maiden PGA Tour title at the Houston Open, Lee’s Masters hopes ended with a five-over par third round 77 to fall to +4 for the tournament.
The 26-year-old started Saturday promisingly with a birdie at the third, but it turned out to be his only one for the day.
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Six bogeys followed across the next 15 holes as Lee’s approach game deserted him.
The 26-year-old hit 11 of 14 fairways, but only reached 10 of 18 greens in regulation as his irons and wedges went wayward, and his typically saucy short game was unable to bail him out as his putter went cold too.
He three-putted three times after not having done so once in the first 36 holes, and average 1.83 putts per hole, 0.20 higher than the rest of the field.
Speaking to Fox Sports’ Paul Gow post-round, Lee said that he and playing partner Harris English being put on the clock for slow play by tournament referees rattled him and messed with his rhythm.
To add insult to injury, Lee was also slapped with a one-shot penalty for the 13th fairway for being deemed to have caused his ball to move on the fairway.
“It was okay for the first bit and then we were on the clock and I think that got to me,” Lee told Gow.
“We had a 20 minute starter gap which doesn’t look good for us. The ‘ref’ said we were one minute behind and then next hole we got timed.
“Playing Augusta is already tough, we played nine holes in two hours which apparently is really slow. So that was tough and yeah, it just got to me.”
Day meanwhile is -5 at the end of his third round, seven shots back from runaway leader Rory McIlroy.
The former world No.1 made birdie at the second courtesy of a tidy up-and-down and also at the fifth as he dropped mid-range putt to bring his Friday evening declaration that he needs to hole more putts to life.
He made another birdie at the 14th via a stunning chip-in after sending his approach from the pine straw over the back of the green.
It was not his only miraculous recovery act however, as he punched out below the tree branches into the greenside bunker on 10 and completed the up-and-down.
But bogeys at the par 3s 12th and 16th, only his second and third dropped shots of the week, prevented him making more of a charge.
At the famous 12th, he failed to get up-and-down after going long as so many players do there but then at 16, he took three shots on the green, although they were not all putts.
Day opted to chip his birdie attempt from the putting surface to better combat the massive slope that feeds the ball down to the hole, but he was unable to get it close enough to secure a par.
“There’s a couple of greens out there that I think are too severe,” Day in his post-round press conference.
“That one I actually hit a pretty good shot going into the green. I mean, a yard left and it’s down the hill and you’ve got a birdie opportunity, and you’re standing on the green thinking, well, if I putt it the best chance I’ve got is 10 feet other than if I hole it.
“Try and take the first two yards of the green out of play which is the most severe and then land it with a little bit of cut spin so hopefully it kind of cuts back into the slope and then dribbles down.
“I actually hit a pretty good chip, just a little bit high, and then the second putt was good. I just didn’t hit it hard enough.”
Looking ahead to the final round, Day said he is eager to put as much pressure on McIlroy as possible.
The 37-year-old is not bothered by how the world No.2 plays, as he said he “can’t do anything. Some guys are just, you want to go over there and break every club in his bag, but that’s just not going to work”.
“He’s clearly playing some good golf, so you’ve got to do the best job you can, and when someone just clearly plays better. I’ve been on the receiving end of a couple of those where he’s run away with it a little bit, Congressional when I finished second there and he beat me by eight.”
But Day knows he remains a chance if he can catch fire and shoot a low round.
“I mean, it’s low,” he said if had a potential winning score in mind for tomorrow.
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“It just all depends on what (Rory) does. Obviously if he comes out and let’s say, for instance, he’s at 12 and he shoots even par the front side, you get something, you get four-under the front side, you’re only two back, like anything can happen. You’re just going, whatever I just shot is out the door, I’ve got nine holes and I’m trying to compete and play against him.
“The thing is that you can get, there’s birdie opportunities, two, three, I made a great birdie on five today. That’s usually not a birdie opportunity. But there’s two, three, you can get one on seven.
“I’m hoping they put the pin in that little gully on the right there. Eight, nine, there’s definite opportunities out there to make birdie. So you can climb your way up pretty quick.
“If he doesn’t do anything early tomorrow, there’s some pressure. That’s the goal.”
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