Masters 2015 leaderboard: Jordan Spieth leads at 16-under heading into Sunday's final round

The first page of the Sunday leaderboard is loaded at Augusta and the name on top will begin with a four-shot cushion and some of the game's most talented players chasing.

Jordan Spieth starts Sunday morning at the Masters with a shot at history. At 16-under, he's just a 3-under 69 round away from breaking Tiger Woods' overall scoring record set in 1997 at Augusta. That 18-under score from Tiger came before all the renovations to Augusta, before it was lengthened dramatically and multiple times, before rough was added, and before different and tougher angles were created.

Tiger's 18-under mark just did not seem reachable. Spieth, however, just has to match his worst score of the week, a 2-under 70, to join Tiger. He's been in double-digits under-par since early Friday morning, setting a new 36-hole record (that one stood for almost 40 years) and a new 54-hole record. The course is playing a bit easier than in recent years. Rain has softened up the greens and the putting surfaces have been receptive to long iron shots. But that doesn't diminish the work Spieth has done through 54 holes on the modern and renovated Augusta.

Spieth will have three primary challengers -- Justin Rose, Charley Hoffman, and Phil Mickelson. Those three are also double-digit under-par, the closest being Rose at 12-under. A four-shot lead is certainly capable of being erased, and quickly, on Sunday at the Masters. The similarities between this 21-year-old Spieth run and 21-year-old Rory McIlroy in 2011 are a little frightening. McIlroy also started that round with a four-shot lead, had many comparable stats to Spieth this week, and then folded on Sunday. His lead was long gone early on the back nine and he went from a 4-shot lead to a 15th-place finish. For Spieth's sake, here's hoping that's harder to replicate than Tiger's record score.

Rose is a major champion and has showed that form all week at Augusta. His ball striking is some of the best in the game, and his short game work was most responsible for his late third-round push to get the final tee time on Sunday. This chip-in at the 16th was the last of four straight birdies:

He also added one more improbable birdie at the 18th hole, bombing in a sidewinder putt. Those five birdies in his last six holes got him within four and a date with Spieth. Rose's game, however, has not been sharp all season and it's hard to seem him repeating that kind of run, which is what I think may be needed to chasedown Spieth.

The most likely challenger is three-time green jacket winner Phil Mickelson. He matched Rose with the round of the day on Saturday, a 5-under 67. It could have been a 65 if not for a couple burned edges that were 50-50 putts. Mickelson knows the course better than anyone, has put together these weekend runs many times, and will have larger and louder crowds than Spieth if he gets hot. He has posted rounds of 70-68-67, so things are "trending" as they say. If he fires a mid-60s number Sunday, something he is completely capable of, he'll push Spieth and challenge the record himself. Eagles at either the 2nd, 13th, or 15th are probably necessary for Mickelson to contend. He definitely needs to get at least two birdies on the four par-5s.

I have not mentioned the third-to-last tee time, the powerhouse duo of Tiger Woods and McIlroy. The gap between them and the three aforementioned chasers is really steep, and the gap all the way to Spieth seems insurmountable. They're 10 shots back and would likely need a course record round (63) just to get into contention (not necessarily win). That looked in play when both guys went out in 32 on Saturday (Tiger's number could have been a 30 real easily). But even if Spieth collapses and gives them hope, there's also those three other world-class talents starting with a 4/5/6 shot cushion in between. It seems like they're counting on too many other things they don't have control of just to get in the mix.

Here's the full leaderboard at the start of Sunday:

Place	Player	Score	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3
1	Jordan Spieth	-16	64	66	70
2	Justin Rose	-12	67	70	67
3	Phil Mickelson	-11	70	68	67
4	Charley Hoffman	-10	67	68	71
T5	Rory McIlroy	-6	71	71	68
T5	Tiger Woods	-6	73	69	68
T5	Kevin Streelman	-6	70	70	70
T5	Kevin Na	-6	74	66	70
T5	Dustin Johnson	-6	70	67	73
T10	Hideki Matsuyama	-5	71	70	70
T10	Paul Casey	-5	69	68	74
T12	Ian Poulter	-4	73	72	67
T12	Zach Johnson	-4	72	72	68
T12	Jonas Blixt	-4	72	70	70
T12	Jason Day	-4	67	74	71
T12	Louis Oosthuizen	-4	72	69	71
T12	Bill Haas	-4	69	71	72
T18	Hunter Mahan	-3	75	70	68
T18	Sergio Garcia	-3	68	74	71
T18	Ryan Moore	-3	74	66	73
T21	Russell Henley	-2	68	74	72
T21	Charl Schwartzel	-2	71	70	73
T21	Angel Cabrera	-2	72	69	73
T21	Ernie Els	-2	67	72	75
T25	Cameron Tringale	-1	71	75	69
T25	Rickie Fowler	-1	73	72	70
T25	Bernd Wiesberger	-1	75	70	70
T25	Bubba Watson	-1	71	71	73
T25	Adam Scott	-1	72	69	74
T30	Lee Westwood	E	73	73	70
T30	Henrik Stenson	E	73	73	70
T30	Brooks Koepka	E	74	71	71
T30	Webb Simpson	E	69	75	72
T30	Seung-yul Noh	E	70	74	72
T30	Patrick Reed	E	70	72	74
T36	Sang-Moon Bae	1	74	71	72
T36	Morgan Hoffmann	1	73	72	72
T36	John Senden	1	71	74	72
T36	Chris Kirk	1	72	73	72
T36	Geoff Ogilvy	1	74	70	73
T36	Ryan Palmer	1	69	74	74
T42	Matt Kuchar	2	72	74	72
T42	Keegan Bradley	2	71	72	75
T42	Danny Willett	2	71	71	76
T42	Mark O'Meara	2	73	68	77
T46	Steve Stricker	3	73	73	73
T46	Jason Dufner	3	74	71	74
T46	Jimmy Walker	3	73	72	74
T46	Erik Compton	3	73	72	74
50	Anirban Lahiri	4	71	75	74
T51	Jamie Donaldson	5	74	71	76
T51	Graeme McDowell	5	71	74	76
53	Darren Clarke	6	74	71	77
54	Vijay Singh	8	75	70	79
55	Thongchai Jaidee	9	75	70	80

Source SBNation.com - All Posts http://www.sbnation.com/golf/2015/4/12/8392667/2015-masters-leaderboard-jordan-spieth-sunday-final-round