Masters rookie Jordan Spieth posted a 2-under-par 70 to tie for the lead with Bubba Watson heading to the final round of the first major of the season at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga.
The 20-year-old Spieth, whose only PGA Tour victory came last year in a playoff at the John Deere Classic, recorded his third straight-sub-par round, pulling even with birdies on he 14th and 15th holes
“I just stayed patient,” said Spieth, who is trying to become the first player to win his first Masters since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979. “We saw right away that the speed of the greens was ridiculous; they were so fast.
“But that’s the Masters. You can’t let it bother you and you have to stay focused the whole time out there. I knew if I stayed patient, there were birdies out there on the par-5s. I won’t try to do anything different tomorrow.”
Watson, the 2012 Masters champion, held a five-stroke lead early in his round, but carded four bogeys on the first seven holes before scrambling to play the back nine in even par, salvaging a 74 with a clutch par putt at No. 18.
Matt Kuchar birdied three consecutive holes through No. 15 and posted a 68 to tie for third, one stroke back, with Jonas Blixt of Sweden, who survived a wild ride home with two birdies and three bogeys in his last seven holes to shoot 71.
Rickey Fowler of Murrieta collected three birdies in a span of four holes through No. 16 to card a 67 and was tied for fifth, two shots back, with 50-year-old Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain, who produced the low round of the day, a 66.
Lee Westwood of England, who has finished second 16 times in majors without winning, had a 70 and was three shots behind in a tie for seventh with Jim Furyk, who totaled 72, and Thomas Bjorn of Denmark, who came in at 73.
