Back-to-back birdies for Tyrrell Hatton at 13 and 14,He’s -8, and if he can make his way home strongly, could post something that would at least ask a question of the players currently above him,Rory McIlroy, having sent his tee shot at the par-three 6th over the back, elects to putt up from the swale,He only just gets the ball up on the putting surface,That’s poor, and he’s left with a 15-footer he can’t make.

It’s been a miserable weekend for the defending champion so far, and by the defeated look on his face, that doesn’t look like changing any time soon,A man who knows he’s misplaced his mojo and the jig is up? Well, perhaps, but Cameron Young, having lagged up to six feet from 70, lets his par putt slip by on the low side,A slight pull,McIlroy is doing his best to play himself out of this Tournament, and yet he’s not cut adrift just yet,-11: Young (6) -10: Henley (9), Rose (7) -9: Scheffler (8), McIlroy (6) -8: Burns (7) -7: Homa (16), Hatton (13)Scottie Scheffler takes putter from the fringe at the back of 8.

He rolls up with confidence, and it looks like dropping … but this one slingshots out to the right.Scheffler high-kicks in frustration.But that’s a par, one he’d have snatched your hand off for when watching his drive disappear into the pines.Should Cameron Young close this out today, he’ll tie the Masters record for the biggest comeback after 36 holes.That currently stands at eight, set by Jack Burke in 1956.

Should either Scottie Scheffler or Russell Henley make it, they’d obliterate the record by four additional strokes.But there’s an awfully long way to go before we consider any of this seriously, and Young lands on the wrong portion of the 6th green, leaving himself 70 feet away; Henley also leaves himself a long two-putt for par, on 9; and Scheffler, though he’s able to advance his ball from the trees on 8, sends his third over the back of the green.Yep, an awfully long way to go.Cameron Young sends his ball over the back of 5.His chip back up isn’t all that, but he walks in the 15-footer to save his par.

Young and Scottie Scheffler are taking turns to make the big saves that win you tournaments like this.-12: Young (5) -10: Henley (8), Rose (7), McIlroy (5) -9: Scheffler (7) -8: Burns (6) -7: Day (6) -6: Homa (15), Hatton (12), Cantlay (8), Lowry (6)One of the shots of the week from Justin Rose! He’s in the pines down the right of 7.It doesn’t look as though there’s much on, but he manufactures a low cut under the branches and into the heart of the green, a combination of side-spin and the bowl shape of the putting surface taking his ball to the right and back down to tap-in range.He punches the air knowing that’s just a couple of inches away.He’ll be tapping in for a birdie that will take him to -10.

Scottie puts everything into his drive at the par-five 8th, and loses it way left for the second hole in a row.He drops his driver on the follow-through as his ball disappears into the pines.Danger over there.But up on the green, Russell Henley chips up close from the back and tidies up for birdie.It’s his 37th birthday today, and this could end up being quite the gift.

He’s two off the lead at -10!Scottie Scheffler makes his second outrageous par save in a row! Having sent his drive into the trees down the left of 7, he can only knock his second to the left of the green.His chip trundles 11 feet past, but he strokes the putt coming back into the centre of the cup, and sometimes par saves feel even bigger than birdies.Just ask Rory McIlroy.He remains at -9.Big bother for Shane Lowry on 5.

He sends his drive into the big fairway bunker down the left.Then he catches the top lip of the trap with his second, the ball pinging back and to the left.He does very well to manufacture a low hook from the trees into the front of the green, but he’s left with a putt of over 100 feet, and three more strokes later, it’s a double.At -6, that’s probably his race run.“Come on Rory.

” One of the patrons, crying in exasperation rather than by way of encouragement, as McIlroy pulls his tee shot at the par-three 4th wide of the left-hand bunker,The defending champ gracefully flips his chip over the sand, nearly holing out,However he can’t save his par from ten feet … then lips out with the one coming back from a couple of feet,A par scramble though for Cameron Young from the front, having come up a club too short,A big swing, and it’s seriously Advantage Young now.

-12: Young (4) -10: McIlroy (4) -9: Henley (7), Scheffler (6), Rose (5)The 2015 and 2016 champion Jordan Spieth is the new clubhouse leader.Birdie at the last, the reward for sending his second pin high to 12 feet, and that’s a 68 for one of the most entertaining players on Tour.He finishes his week at -5, and c’mon Jordan, get it done next month in the PGA at Aronimink, complete that career slam.Russell Henley could be the surprise package to spring out of the pack.He nearly replicates the fairway heroics of Aaron Rai and Tyrrell Hatton on 7, but his iron from 150 yards stops a couple of turns short.

Never mind, it’s a birdie that brings the local hero, who tied for fourth in 2023, right into the mix! And the perennial bridesmaid Justin Rose isn’t going anywhere: he fires his approach at 5 from 238 yards to 30 feet, and rails home the birdie putt! They’re both -9 now, alongside Scottie Scheffler, who makes a 15-foot putt from the fringe at the back of 6 to save his par after a clumsy chip.This Masters is really getting going now.-12: Young (3), McIlroy (3) -9: Henley (7), Scheffler (6), Rose (5) -8: Burns (4), Lowry (4) -7: Matsuyama (16), Day (5)Rory rolls his birdie putt in on 3! That up and down from that bunker way down the bank should pick him up.He re-joins Cameron Young, who takes a careful two putts for par, in the lead.Meanwhile on the long par-four 4th, Sam Burns stops the rot by getting up and down from the front of the green … but Shane Lowry three-putts to drop back and join him at -8.

-12: Young (3), McIlroy (3) -9: Scheffler (5), Lowry (3) -8: Henley (6), Day (4), Rose (4), Burns (4) -7: Cantlay (5)Yes, this could be Cameron Young’s year all right,He carves a wild drive into the trees down the right of 3 … but the ball clanks off a tree trunk and back out into the fairway! He wedges on in two,The golfing gods continue to smile down on him,Unless they’re storing up one heck of a sucker punch on the back nine,Meanwhile Rory finds the Scheffler-Burns bunker, and whips one of those hard-yet-somehow-soft splashes up and over the ten-foot face, to ten feet.

Sam Burns drives into the bunker front-left of 3,Scottie got up and down from it; Burns leaves his ball in,He gets out with his second attempt, but can’t make the six-footer he’s got for par,That fast start didn’t last long,He’s -8.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Rory hit the fairway on 2,” writes Simon Farnaby, perhaps stretching a point for comic effect, then following with some words which Family Website Editor tells me I’m not allowed to publish.Cameron Young, having been slightly fortunate to see his ball squirting over the bunker, rolls in the left-to-right putt.He had a couple of big breaks from the trees yesterday, at 13 and 17; perhaps this is destined to be his year.Then it’s Rory McIlroy’s turn … and he gives his putt a little bit too much on the left.Cameron Young leads the Masters by himself!-12: Young (2) -11: McIlroy (2) -9: Scheffler (4), Burns (2), Lowry (2) -8: Henley (5), Li (4), Day (3), Rose (3) -7: Cantlay (5)Rory takes his medicine from the fairway bunker at 2.

He’s got no option really.He wedges out to the centre of the fairway, then sends his third into the green to 15 feet.He’ll have a chance for birdie.As will Cameron Young, who only just gets his chip over the bunker guarding front right, but gets away with it, and will have a similar putt to Rory.Bounce-back birdie for Shane Lowry at 2! The reward for a lovely wedge bundled into the front of the green, the camber taking his ball round to four feet.

He’s back where he started at -9.But his partner Sam Burns ends up running up a double, little short of a disaster on one of the few gimme-birdie holes around this grand old place.And a backwards step for Justin Rose, who fails to lob a chip up from the bottom of the bank at the par-four 3rd.That’s cost him a shot.-11: Young (1), McIlroy (1) -9: Scheffler (4), Burns (2), Lowry (2) -8: Henley (5), Li (4), Day (3), Rose (3) -7: Hatton (9), Cantlay (5) -6: Matsuyama (14), Åberg (10), Knapp (7)Trouble for the joint leader Sam Burns on 2.

He finds the trees down the right.He’s forced into a penalty drop, then a hack out … and then he flies the green with a wedge.Straight into the gallery sitting behind.Meanwhile back on the tee, Rory McIlroy’s driving travails continue apace, as he sends his ball into the fairway bunker on the right.He won’t be able to take a shy for the green from there.

Rory McIlroy is left with a pretty straight birdie putt on 1, certainly by the standards of Augusta National.But he doesn’t hit it at all.An early disappointment, though nothing on last year.Par for Cameron Young as well.Up on 3, Scottie Scheffler responds to his failure to birdie 2 with an up-and-down from greenside sand on 3.

His playing partner Haotong Li makes birdie too.-11: Burns (1), Young (1), McIlroy (1) -9: Scheffler (3), Rose (2) -8: Henley (4), Li (3), Day (2), Lowry (1) -7: Hatton (8), Cantlay (4)Some admin / recognition of notable final rounds.Keegan Bradley is in with a 66, equalling Gary Woodland’s best-of-day; he’s -3 overall.A 69 for the 2020 champ Dustin Johnson; he ends the week at level par.Maverick McNealy joins Viktor Hovland in the clubhouse lead at -4 after equalling his 67.

The final group takes to the tee … and both Cameron Young and Rory McIlroy take 3-woods for safety,The way Rory has been driving all week, this could be a tactic we’ll see more than once,Time will tell,It’s not as though he’s giving up too much distance, and he’s just wedging in from 155 yards,He very nearly slam-dunks it, too, a couple of feet to the left.

He’ll have a good look at birdie from 11 feet.That’ll hopefully put him on an even keel: remember he bogeyed Tea Olive yesterday, and infamously doubled it on Sunday last year.That, it is fair to say, is a marked improvement.Young, having found the fairway bunker on the right, finds the heart of the green and will have a putt from 20 feet or so.An opening birdie for Sam Burns in the penultimate group.

A lovely downhill putt from 30 feet, and he joins the leaders at -11.His playing partner Shane Lowry however takes a heavy-handed chip from the front of 1, and bogey takes him the other way.No birdie for Scheffler on 2, meanwhile, but Tyrrell Hatton follows up his spectacular eagle on 7 with birdie at 8.-11: Burns (1), Young, McIlroy -9: Rose (1) -8: Scheffler (2), Day (1), Lowry (1) -7: Hatton (8), Cantlay (3), Henley (3), Li (2)Scottie takes putter from the back of 2.He only just gets his putt through the fringe, though the margins are small, and it still dribbles down to six feet.

But he’s not 100 percent happy with that,A thin-lipped smile as he considers his birdie putt,Meanwhile a bogey for Viktor Hovland on 18, and he ends the week with a 67 at -4,That round promised more,He’s the new clubhouse leader, though.

Justin Rose isn’t wasting time either! He chips in from the swale to the right of Tea Olive, and the three-time runner-up moves to within a couple of the lead at -9,The gallery, who wouldn’t say no to the genial Rose getting his flowers at last, erupt in delight,Meanwhile over on 2, Scottie Scheffler fires his second into the green, but over the back,Still a decent opportunity to get up and down from close-ish range, though,A sense that this Masters is about to catch fire, and the leaders aren’t even out yet