Saturday, April 11, 2015

2015 Masters leaderboard: Jordan Spieth leads at 14-under heading into Saturday's third round


With overnight rain, the scores could be low again on Saturday and where Jordan Spieth sits now, the overall scoring record held by Tiger Woods could be next.


It is moving day at the Masters, and there's never been a year where a big move needs to be made more than this Saturday. Jordan Spieth is blowing out the field at the midpoint, breaking records, and threatening to make this a laugher before the first tee ball is hit on Sunday morning.


Spieth backed up his opening round 8-under 64 with a second round 66, setting a new 36-hole record at the Masters of 14-under 130. The previous record stood for almost 40 years -- Ray Floyd's 13-under 131 set back in 1976. He's got 15 birdies and just one bogey through his first two days. And if he doesn't start making a few more bogeys, this thing will be over soon.


The over/under for Spieth on Saturday would probably be 69.5. He can't keep firing rounds in the mid-60s, right? Now that Floyd's record is gone, he's going for the overall scoring record of 18-under 270, set by the 21-year-old Tiger Woods back in 1997. Even though it's called "moving day,' Augusta prefers to set the course up tougher on Friday and definitely Saturday. The final round setup is a bit more benign, allowing for birdies and those streaks on the back nine that have become synonymous with the Masters. But given the rain in the area this week, Augusta may not have a chance to have the course playing as firm and fast as they would like.




When world-class players have a big deficit to close, and it's five-six-seven shots right now, most say they would prefer the course to play easier than harder. At least then you have a chance to shoot a low 60s round and make up some ground if the leader stalls. If it's playing difficult, there's fewer openings for a run and everyone is just sort of grinding to stay around even-par (that's what can make the U.S. Open a bore, especially compared to the Masters).


Tiger Woods, on the other hand, almost always prefers the firm and fast conditions. That's the case again this week. He's been mystified by the "slow" green speeds, his balls repeatedly coming up short of the hole in several key spots. Woods has mentioned it at length after both rounds, and also said his entire group (he played with Jamie Donaldson and Jimmy Walker) could never adjust or figure out how slow they were rolling so far.


Tiger probably won't be happy with all the rain then. It's allegedly harder on his game, if you believe his repeated complaint, and it also sets up Spieth to shatter a scoring record that we thought would stand for decades longer. Not great for Tiger!


Woods will start the day 1:15 p.m. with his old friend Sergio Garcia. That he turned in a 3-under round of 69 and made the cut on Friday seemed impossible a week ago. I think his tournament has to be considered a success, and starting the weekend 12 shots back, entertaining the thought of a fifth green jacket doesn't seem realistic.


Here are all your scores at the top of the third round:


















































































































































































































































































































































































































Place Player Score Round 1 Round 2
1Jordan Spieth-146466
2Charley Hoffman-96768
T3Justin Rose-76770
T3Dustin Johnson-77067
T3Paul Casey-76968
6Phil Mickelson-67068
7Ernie Els-56772
T8Kevin Na-47466
T8Kevin Streelman-47070
T8Bill Haas-46971
T8Ryan Moore-47466
T12Louis Oosthuizen-37269
T12Angel Cabrera-37269
T12Mark O'Meara-37368
T12Jason Day-36774
T12Adam Scott-37269
T12Hideki Matsuyama-37170
T12Charl Schwartzel-37170
T19Tiger Woods-27369
T19Sergio Garcia-26874
T19Danny Willett-27171
T19Russell Henley-26874
T19Jonas Blixt-27270
T19Patrick Reed-27072
T19Bubba Watson-27171
T19Rory McIlroy-27171
T27Ryan Palmer-16974
T27Keegan Bradley-17172
T29Seung-yul NohE7074
T29Geoff OgilvyE7470
T29Zach JohnsonE7272
T29Webb SimpsonE6975
T33Erik Compton17372
T33Bernd Wiesberger17570
T33Chris Kirk17273
T33Hunter Mahan17570
T33Graeme McDowell17174
T33Brooks Koepka17471
T33Thongchai Jaidee17570
T33John Senden17174
T33Jamie Donaldson17471
T33Jimmy Walker17372
T33Rickie Fowler17372
T33Vijay Singh17570
T33Darren Clarke17471
T33Ian Poulter17372
T33Morgan Hoffmann17372
T33Jason Dufner17471
T33Sang-Moon Bae17471
T50Cameron Tringale27175
T50Matt Kuchar27274
T50Henrik Stenson27373
T50Lee Westwood27373
T50Anirban Lahiri27175
T50Steve Stricker27373





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