This video can not be played

Scheffler & Lowry's ace feature in day three's best shots

The Masters round three leaderboard

-11 C Young (US), R McIlroy (NI); -10 S Burns (US)

Selected: -9 S Lowry (Ire); -8 J Day (Aus), J Rose (Eng); -7 S Scheffler (US), L Haotong (Chn); -6 P Cantlay (US), P Reed (US); -4 T Hatton (Eng), T Fleetwood (Eng)

Full leaderboard

The drama which Rory McIlroy has produced at the Masters over the years - the type that left his fans peeking through their fingers - is woven into the fabric of his story.

When McIlroy moved into a record six-shot lead at the halfway point of the tournament on Friday, it felt like this year's Masters was going to see a different chapter written, one which demonstrated control rather than chaos.

Many predicted a procession for the defending champion going into Saturday's third round. They should have known better.

Northern Ireland's McIlroy saw his commanding lead evaporate during a dramatic day where he swung the door wide open to his rivals with a one-over-par 73.

On Sunday, he will go out in the final group level on 11 under with American Cameron Young. A dozen players are within six shots of the leaders. Buckle up.

"I knew it wouldn't be easy, the quality of the chasing pack is obvious," McIlroy, who is aiming to become only the fourth man to win successive Masters titles, said on Sky Sports.

"I would have wanted to be in a better position going into [Sunday, having] started out with a six-shot lead, but I've still got a great chance.

"I'm in the final group and that's where you want to be."

Last year's nerve-jangling play-off win over England's Justin Rose was classic McIlroy at the Masters - a rollercoaster ride where his bid for the career Grand Slam threatened to derail once again.

Holding on and finally landing the Green Jacket provided McIlroy, who is now 36, with a sense of liberation.

This video can not be played

'Such a bad mistake' - McIlroy double bogeys the eleventh

During his first two rounds this week, he played with the greater mental freedom which he predicted reaching his golfing Everest - finally conquering Augusta National - would provide.

The five-time major champion showed patience to take control of the leaderboard, even though he was not playing as well as the scoreboard suggested.

The ability to recover from wayward driving was the key to McIlroy's success, staying calm in pressure moments to play sensibly when required before attacking when the chances arose.

On Saturday, his swing continued to stutter and this time his short game could not always ride to the rescue.

"I will go to the range and figure it out. I still have a great chance, but if I am going to win I will have to play better," McIlroy said.

McIlroy found eight of the 14 fairways in the third round - the same as he did on Friday when he shot a 65. On Thursday, he only hit five as he posted a 67.

Of those players to make the halfway cut, he is bottom of the class in accuracy off the tee, and when you couple that with his poorer short game during round three, it's easy to see how Augusta took chunks out of his lead.

Many players gave the old place a beating on Saturday, with watered greens allowing favourable scoring conditions.

But McIlroy was one of three players inside the top 28 at the end of the day who finished over par for their third rounds, alongside England's Tommy Fleetwood and Norway's Kristoffer Reitan, who both matched his 73.

"It's so rare to see a player shut the door on a major in the way Tiger Woods did," said BBC golf correspondent Iain Carter, referring to the five-time Masters champion and 15-time major winner.

"If he had a sniff he'd be so pragmatic and make sure nobody could get near him.

"McIlroy doesn't have that in his locker. Woods was a super-human golfer, McIlroy is a human golfer."

This video can not be played

Watch: 'I didn't quite have it today' - Rory McIlroy's assessment of round three

As McIlroy fought to maintain any sort of lead in the closing holes, it was striking how exhausted he had suddenly started to look.

The bounce in his gait had gone, the speed of his stride had slowed.

Was it just the physical demands of an undulating Augusta, or is there a mental fatigue which could be starting to take its toll?

McIlroy arrived more than a week ago with a host of engagements to fulfil.

Taking part in traditions like hosting Tuesday's Champions' Dinner are memorable experiences which no golfer would want to swap.

But, with more interviews and more attention than ever before, the week has a very different feel which could eventually catch up with him.

McIlroy certainly didn't think he needed to immediately switch off on Saturday, seeing as he was heading for more practice after his third round.

"He looks absolutely knackered," was the blunt assessment of former Europe Solheim Cup player Trish Johnson, who is a BBC Radio 5 Live summariser at Augusta.

"But he still needs to hit balls because you can't go to sleep, you'll be awake all night trying to figure it out.

"You have to get some feeling going so he can think 'that's what I'm going with'."

Masters tee times for round four at Augusta

'We'll see what everyone is made of' -Masters contenders on final-round showdown

With a forecast of warm and dry weather all week at Augusta National, the expectation was that firm and fast greens would lead to difficult scoring conditions - McIlroy said he thought the winning score would not reach double digits under par.

There was also a perception that the officials in charge of the course set-up would be delighted with the prospect.

However, their decision to water the greens each morning has made scoring easier as the week has gone on.

That has not been a popular decision with the purists, who have accused the Masters of also going soft.

There is no doubt making things more scoreable has made for an entertaining spectacle as the pack hunted down McIlroy.

World number one Scottie Scheffler was the first player to really take advantage as he threatened to challenge the course record of 63 - jointly held by Nick Price (1986) and Greg Norman (1996) - with a blistering front nine.

Eventual co-leader Young also gave Price and Norman cause for concern when he reached seven under after 14 holes.

The 28-year-old American's momentum was stalled by a bogey on 15 - which would have been worse had he not pitched close with his fourth after finding the water - but he recovered to birdie 16 and match Scheffler's 65, the joint low rounds of the day.

A whole host of players will be thinking they can sneak in and pinch the Green Jacket on Sunday.

Young, who is ranked third in the world, goes out alongside McIlroy at 19:25 BST as he looks to claim his first major title.

He won the PGA Tour's prestigious Players Championship last month and is looking to follow in the footsteps of McIlroy and Scheffler, who did the Players-Masters double in 2025 and 2024.

Sam Burns, another American, is one shot off the lead, while McIlroy's close friend Shane Lowry is fourth on nine under after a four-under 68.

The Irishman's round featured a hole-in-one on the sixth as he became the first player to record two aces in the Masters, having also holed his tee shot on the 16th in 2016.

England's Justin Rose and Australia's Jason Day are eight under, with Scheffler and Li Haotong lurking at seven under.

Before McIlroy faltered, three-time Masters champion Nick Faldo felt his rivals would have been happy if they had got within three shots going into the final day.

"We've seen people storm through and seen people collapse," Faldo, who famously clawed back Greg Norman's six-shot lead after 54 holes in 1996, said on Sky Sports.

"There is nothing safe throughout the whole of this course.

"You can be waltzing away with a four-shot lead walking down 15, you plonk it in the water and it all changes. There is nothing set in stone until you're on that 18th tee with probably a four-shot lead."

This video can not be played

Young moves into joint lead after super third round at Augusta

Comments can not be loaded

To load Comments you need to enable JavaScript in your browser