{"id":600965,"date":"2026-04-11T23:27:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T23:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/600965\/"},"modified":"2026-04-11T23:27:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T23:27:09","slug":"rory-mcilroy-implodes-cameron-young-65-jason-day-scottie-scheffler-front-nine-31-shane-lowry-hole-in-one-australians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/600965\/","title":{"rendered":"Rory McIlroy implodes, Cameron Young 65, Jason Day, Scottie Scheffler front nine 31, Shane Lowry hole-in-one, Australians"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Rory McIlroy\u2019s record 36-hole lead disappeared as Australia\u2019s Jason Day made a mighty surge up the leaderboard in a drama-filled third round of The Masters at Augusta National.<\/p>\n<p>Names jumped around constantly on the leaderboard on moving day with McIlroy ending the day as a co-leader alongside Cameron Young at 11-under par.<\/p>\n<p>The only place to watch the Masters Live &amp; Exclusive is Fox Sports. Available on Kayo. | New to Kayo? <a href=\"https:\/\/kayosports.com.au\/en-AU\/welcome\/golf?pg=default&amp;extcamp=fsaeditoriallinkgolf-edt-fsp-lnk-awr-grc-glf-kyo&amp;channel=fsa&amp;campaign=fsacontra&amp;voucher=\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img class=\"i-amphtml-fill-content i-amphtml-replaced-content\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/poster-fallback.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Day carded four birdies in a row on the back nine to climb into contention with a round of 68 on a chaotic moving day.<\/p>\n<p>The Australian sits just three shots off the lead after defending champion McIlroy shot a one-over par 73 to squander his advantage.<\/p>\n<p>As a result it set up a mouth-watering Sunday showdown between the world No.2 and the world No.3.<\/p>\n<p>McIlroy\u2019s lead dwindled as he reached the turn in 36, but is evaporated when he made a double bogey at 11 and a bogey at 12 as Amen Corner showed its teeth.<\/p>\n<p>The career grand slam winner hooked his second shot into the water on 11 and then missed a short-range bogey putt after chipping onto the green from the drop zone.<\/p>\n<p>LEADERBOARD: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com.au\/golf\/match?matchid=MTA20260010019E767\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Live scores from The Masters<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Rory McIlroy reacts after a tee shot on the 12th hole.Source: AP<\/p>\n<p>The twists were not done there, however, as McIlroy reeled off back-to-back birdies at 14 and 15 to regain the outright lead.<\/p>\n<p>The latter came as he produced a near re-creation of his unforgettable second shot on the same hole in the final round last year.<\/p>\n<p>It did not result in an eagle this time around, but McIlroy would have been pleased with a tap-in birdie to move to 12-under.<\/p>\n<p>Two holes later, he once again coughed up that advantage, however.<\/p>\n<p>Making bogey at 17 &#8211; where he chipped-in for birdie in the second round &#8211; after a wayward drive ended up in the trees.<\/p>\n<p>READ MORE<\/p>\n<p>R2 WRAP: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com.au\/golf\/the-masters\/the-masters-2026-round-2-leaderboard-live-scores-live-blog-rory-mcilroy-fast-start-to-second-round-jason-day-leads-aussie-charge\/news-story\/4f284a5788a7865a56f68193e92caf4b\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Rory sends Masters bananas in epic for the ages; Day\u2019s late drama after Aussie disaster<\/a><\/p>\n<p>R2 TALKING PTS: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com.au\/golf\/the-masters\/the-masters-2026-second-round-talking-points-how-rory-mcilroy-ignited-in-incredible-back-nine-cameron-smiths-major-struggles\/news-story\/6e8fd841b7c282d104ebe8be3af6291e\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">How Rory ignited for historic Masters stunner as brutal Smith reality laid bare<\/a><\/p>\n<p>McIlroy leads after rocky Round 3 start | 02:35<\/p>\n<p>Young remarkably started the day eight shots behind the defending champion before lighting up Augusta National with eight birdies. <\/p>\n<p>As a result, he joined McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler with best round of the tournament so far &#8211; a seven-under par 65 &#8211; and grabbed the clubhouse lead at 11-under par.<\/p>\n<p>Day and Young put on quite the show for the Augusta galleries in their pairing.<\/p>\n<p>The Australian bogeyed the opening hole, but reeled off six birdies afterwards, including five in the space of eight holes either side of the turn.<\/p>\n<p>Although, he stunted his charge by dumping his tee shot in the bunker on 16 and he failed to save par from the sand.<\/p>\n<p>But Day remains firmly in the mix for his first ever green jacket.<\/p>\n<p>Although, he will also have to overcome the likes of Sam Burns (-10), Shane Lowry (-9) and Justin Rose (-8).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStatistically I average around four to five birdies a round, so I just knew they were going to come,\u201d Day said. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI just didn\u2019t know when they were going to come. It was nice to be able to have the chances from 12 to 15; hit a lot of good quality shots going into the greens. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI also hit a lot of good drives to give myself the opportunities up near the greens on the par-5s.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jason Day looks on from the fourth tee during the third round.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>Young spoke post-round of a few lucky breaks that helped him go so low.<\/p>\n<p>His only blemish for the day came when he found the water that guards the front of the green on the par 5 15th.<\/p>\n<p>But there could have dropped more shots if it was not for his drive kicking out to the middle of the fairway after crashing into a tree on the par 3 13th.<\/p>\n<p>While he also made a birdie from off the back of the green on the par 3 fourth.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is more of the same, honestly. I just happened to have a few shots come down really close today,\u201d Young told Sky Sports.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI got a tremendously fortunate break on 13. Instead of making six or seven, I made four.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was just one of those days. I hit a bunch of really good shots, but they don\u2019t all have to end up close and today a lot of them happened to come down inside of six feet. And then the chip in on four, that\u2019s one of the ones you don\u2019t really count on, and I just had a few of those today.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cameron Young reacts on the 17th green during the third round.Source: AFP<\/p>\n<p>Patrick Reed was the early challenger with three straight birdies to start his day, but has fallen back to his starting score of -6.<\/p>\n<p>Scottie Scheffler is ominously lurking after he made five birdies and an eagle in a bogey free, tournament best equalling round of 65.<\/p>\n<p>The world No.1 started the day 12 shots back, but made up ground quickly with a front nine 31.<\/p>\n<p>He currently sits five shots behind McIlroy and believes he can pull off an incredible chase down. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI took advantage early, was able to hole a few putts and put myself in position. I feel like I did that on the back nine too, but could have gotten a few more shots out of the round today,\u201d Scheffler told Sky Sports.<\/p>\n<p>Scottie Scheffler reacts on the second green during the third round.Source: AFP<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOverall, we\u2019ll see what happens as the day progresses, but I\u2019m not out of it as of now.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSince it\u2019s warmer, the ball\u2019s going a bit further. You can get it down there and get some scoring clubs in your hand, but the greens are starting to firm up.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c15 and 13 are holes that you can definitely take advantage of, 14 is a gettable pin as well. There are definitely plenty of opportunities.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c(I need to) keep doing what I\u2019m doing. I felt like I did a lot of thing well today, so just continue to do that, continue to execute and hopefully hole a few more putts tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lowry delivers unreal Masters ace | 01:12<\/p>\n<p>Shane Lowry jumped into the mix with a hole-in-one at the par 3 sixth.<\/p>\n<p>It was the first ace made at The Masters in four years and just the seventh ever on the sixth hole.<\/p>\n<p>The Irishman simply has a freakish ability to put a one on his card at iconic locations.<\/p>\n<p>He boasts a list that is perhaps the envy of almost every golfer in the world.<\/p>\n<p>This was his second ace at Augusta National &#8211; having made one on the 16th in the final around of the 2016 Masters.<\/p>\n<p>He also has made a one at the island green 17th at TPC Sawgrass as well as the downhill 7th on the cliff\u2019s edge at Pebble Beach.<\/p>\n<p>Lowry also made an ace just a fortnight ago on the 2nd at the Texas Children\u2019s Houston Open.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Australia\u2019s Adam Scott is already in the clubhouse, having shot 70 to reach even par for the tournament.<\/p>\n<p>Follow all the action from The Masters in our live blog below! Can\u2019t see it? <a href=\"https:\/\/go.arena.im\/live\/fox-sports-australia\/0v7DxpJ?v=2\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Click here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rory McIlroy\u2019s record 36-hole lead disappeared as Australia\u2019s Jason Day made a mighty surge up the leaderboard in&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":600966,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[5487,64,11537,63,29743,292897,70392,144061,755,29981,5499,292898,70796,292899,756,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-600965","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-adam-scott","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-augusta-national-inc","11":"tag-australia","12":"tag-career-grand-slam","13":"tag-day-six-under","14":"tag-dream-fashion","15":"tag-fast-start","16":"tag-golf","17":"tag-grand-slam-winner","18":"tag-jason-day","19":"tag-live-ampampampampampampamp-exclusive","20":"tag-patrick-reed","21":"tag-record-six-shot-buffer","22":"tag-rory-mcilroy","23":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=600965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600965\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/600966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=600965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=600965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=600965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}