The Masters 2025 Final Round LIVE: Leaderboard and updates as Rory McIlroy recovers from a horror start as he looks to fend off Bryson DeChambeau in titanic tussle at Augusta

McIlroy revealed he had watched Premier League football yesterday to take his mind off things before shooting a third-round 66 to grab the lead. Fortunately, he arrived at the course today before his beloved Manchester United had been walloped 4-1 by Newcastle.

He just could not stop smiling as he strutted down the fairway…

Things aren’t looking so good for either Rory or Bryson right now though, with the Northern Irishman and the American both finding the sand on the eighth.

McIlroy has hit one of of five fairways so far today. Meanwhile, Bryson’s hit four out of five.

The crowd here appears to be a 50/50 split. McIlroy emerged from the clubhouse with a smile and marched to the first tee to huge cheers. DeChambeau walked out around 10 minutes later, fist-bumping all the way, and the noise was repeated. It’s been that way on the first seven holes throughout each player’s ups and downs.

Rory McIlroy revealed earlier this week that he’s been getting into fiction novels ahead of The Masters.

The four-time major winner revealed he’s been reading The Reckoning by John Grisham and is now well into the book.

‘Book is going okay. I’m probably only on like chapter 6,’ he said yesterday.

McIlroy also shed some light on what things are like for a pro golfer on the morning of the final round of The Masters…

These are busy weeks, and by the time I get home and get dinner and shower, it’s like, you know — again, it’s either a toss-up between a show or a book. I think right now I’d just rather watch the show.

And then this morning, you know — I’m sure it will be a similar tee time tomorrow as it was today. So I watched a little bit of Premier League football this morning, and then I actually watched “Zootopia” with Poppy. Very, very good movie if anyone’s interested.

And then by that time, I try to get to the golf course three, three and a half hours before I play, and then I feel like those three hours when I get here go pretty quick from locker room, up to the gym, warm up, back here, back in the locker room, food, shower, get ready, go to the range. I feel like that three hours goes really, really quickly.

It’s just that trying to fill that time between sort of 7:00 and 10:30 before heading to the golf course. You know, thankfully there are some good options. But the one thing I’ve tried to do a good job of this week is just not being on the phone and just trying to stay clear of that and do other things.

He’s just dropped a wedge 150 yards, over a towering set of pines to put his ball within around eight feet of the pin on the par four seventh, agonisingly just trickling his ball past the hole.

That was some shot and McIlroy can’t believe it either, he’s laughing in amazement to his caddie Harry Diamond as they strut up the fairway together.

But he can’t putt out for birdie! He leaves his putt short! But I think the world No 2 will take that result from where he was, even if he can’t get down to -13.

Bryson, meanwhile, finds himself in a horrible lie inside the front greenside bunker and he clips his ball out onto the green but reads the pace and contours on the dance floor perfectly, giving himself a five-footer for par.

You can never rule this man out.

The defending champion has had a really tough week out there with his short game and putting but he’s not giving up without a fight.

Scottie Scheffler has just birdied three of the past four holes to take himself back to -7.

MichaelKim is currently down to -1 having begun the day at level par.

He’s another player who has toiled with the course today carding three birdies and two bogeys.

Kim, though, took to X on Saturday night to open up on what it was like hearing the roars from the crowds following McIlroy yesterday and how he was left staggered watching the Northern Irishman’s name fly up the leaderboard during the third round.

‘I was playing when those big roars from Rory was happening but it’s impossible to know who’s making them,’ he wrote on X.

‘Then I see the big scoreboards and went. Unbelievable. It’s really cool to hear the roars reach other holes since they always talk about that on TV.’

Here’s his reflections on Augusta National…

He’s been battling the course so far and has had to wait to card his second birdie of the round, but does so on the par-three sixth, holing out a long and winding 18-foot putt.

He has the chance to add another score to his card on the next hole but Aberg’s birdie putt agonisingly just lips out.

Aberg has missed two consecutive cuts coming into this weekend’s event, and despite having finished as a runner-up here last year, the European Ryder Cup hero has shirked his PGA Tour demons to get up to third on the leaderboard.

He went viral for this slightly bizarre moment at the 2024 Masters, when a patron appeared to knock his snack out of his hand as he fist-bumped the fans while walking off the 18th.

McIlroy gets into a spot of trouble on the par four fifth hole, slicing his drive out right into the pine straw on the right of the fairway.

But it’s not a problem for the Northern Irishman, who notably scrambled well from the pine needles on Friday for an eagle on 13 and a par on the 14th.

McIlroy rips a mid-iron out from the straw and sensationally avoids the bunker at the back of the green.

It’s a great scramble with Rory getting the ball on with his wede before tapping in from around 10-feet for par.

There’s been a lot of talk today about how Bryson DeChambeau left the 18th green on Saturday.

To be fair, he had just birdied the last with a brilliant texas wedge, but still, he was pumped.

It was reminiscent of his win at Pinehurst last year where he was running around with the US Open trophy, handing it to fans around the golf course to hold and enjoy with him.

Bryson yesterday was seen staring down the patrons in the crowd after tapping in a birdie and looked to be feeding back off their energy.

Once a polarising figure on the PGA Tour, Bryson is now one of the most loved golfers in the world for his unique and entertaining style of play.

When asked whether he ever fears burn out after exerting so much energy around the course during a tournament week, hitting nearly 400 balls on the range on Tuesday, heading out late last night to practice his putting and fist bumping patrons, Bryson appeared to shrug his shoulders.

I’ve done this a few times now, and I know when my limit is. Definitely the most important thing is going back and relaxing and having a fun, enjoyable night. You know, just hanging out with my friends and family, and just being myself.

You know, keep being myself. When I’m more of myself, I feel like I can keep going no matter what. It’s the times where you have to put on a face or do something or whatever that you don’t feel like you can keep going. So for me, the more I can just be myself, the longer I can go.

Here he comes! After that disappointing start, he’s back to 12-under-par here with another birdie on the par four third, draining an excellent putt from 9-feet out.

Bryson, meanwhile, can’t keep up the pace and concedes back-to-back bogeys to go back to nine-under and concede a three-stroke deficit against McIlroy.

Two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson has just rolled an absolutely incredible 44-foot putt in on the par-three 16th to get himself down to -3.

Watson has the patrons around this stunning par three on their feet with that effort.

The 2012 and 2014 Masters champion, who has enjoyed an excellent week back at The Masters this week, even says he’s had to re-learn a lot of the greens at Augusta, despite having played this illustrious golf course so many times over the years.

Well, you’re always learning because weather dictates things. Weather has dictated that there’s new greens out there, and so now you have to re-learn those greens. There was a couple pin placements today that I don’t know if I’ve ever seen.

So yeah, you’re always trying to get information. But as you get older that information doesn’t do as good as it used to.

By the way, Watson’s stunning shot on 10th on his way to win the 2012 Masters goes down as one of my greatest-ever shots at The Masters.

He takes the lead with a great birdie on the third, draining an eight-foot putt to get back to 11-under-par.

DeChambeau, meanwhile, despite getting to the green in fewer shots than McIlroy, three-putts on the par four and gets down for a bogey.

I have to say McIlroy looked a little nervous over those first two holes but he’s shaken that off now and is bounding away high in confidence following that birdie.

Ludvig Aberg could have risen to eight-under-par after his first four holes.

He scrambles well to make par on the par-five second, with a lovely texas wedge to 8 feet of the hole before just leaving a putt wide on the par-three fourth, ultimately tapping in for par.

Aberg, though, is bounding in confidence after this week. He’s played brilliantly after a few difficult finishes on the PGA Tour this season. Speaking yesterday, he told reporters:

I think just knowing that I can be in this situation and still play really good golf. I think I teed off in the second or third to last group last year, and it was really cool to feel all the buzz and feel all the excitement and nerves and still able to go out and shoot a good score.

So hopefully we can do that tomorrow again and see where it ends up.

The former US Ryder Cup Captain is having a weekend to remember.

Barring a blip on the first, going down for bogey, Johnson eagles the second with a stunning approach on the second to take him back to -5 for the week.

Yesterday, he shot one of the best rounds of the week, hitting a low 66, that included six birdies and one eagle to get down to -4 heading into Sunday.

After the anguish of the 2023 Ryder Cup, Johnson has been back on the course working on his own game and admits he is made up that the fruits of his labour are coming to the fore.

I mean, it’s been — I’ve had it a few days this year. If I go back to it, you’d have to go back to my results. I haven’t played a ton. It’s not like I’m playing that much. I’m 49, so I’m not playing quite as much as I used to.

But I had some days out on the West Coast, Sony, where I was right there three two or three days. I played well at Torrey. I don’t play way well at Torrey. So opportunities is what I’m saying.

I don’t hit the ball far enough to compete on some of these venues, but it doesn’t mean I can’t have a decent finish. It doesn’t mean I can’t make cuts. It doesn’t mean I can’t still do it.

I don’t know. Today was an extreme, obviously, example of the fruits of my labor showing up.

Here’s his eagle on two…

A double bogey on the first sees McIlroy move back to ten-under.

His shot out of the bunker came up short of the green and his approach in, while a good shot, sped off the back for the green, with the Northern Irishman two-putting.

Bryson, meanwhile, scrambles well from the pine straw and putts out for par to go level with McIlroy at -10.

The duo have now teed off on the second and McIlroy has found the bunker again in the middle of the fairway.

I’ve just been scrolling as Rory McIlroy saves par on the second hole and I’ve come across this very cool thread that many golf lovers will enjoy.

Players, when invited to The Masters, must RSVP to Augusta National that they will be attending. And while we all know what the players invites look like, The Masters’ official X account has revealed some of the very cool responses they’ve received from the likes of Seve Ballesteros, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.

Meanwhile, Bryson’s just got down for a birdie to take the outright lead.

He’s two under through three holes and has responded immediately after his disappointing finish on Saturday, carding bogeys on 16 and 18.

It comes as Corey Conners has picked up a shot on the first to fall back to seven, tied with the Englishman and Ludvig Aberg.

Elsewhere, the reigning Masters champion, Scottie Scheffler is having a real battle with the golf course, and has just drained a clutch 30-foot putt to save for par on the par five second.

Meanwhile, did any one catch Justin Rose doing this on the fairway on Friday?

It’s been fascinating to watch Rory McIlroy make his way around Augusta National this week.

It’s a place that holds so many mixed emotions for the Northern Irishman, who has missed cuts, come so agonisingly close to winning and has played some of the golf of his life around this beautiful track.

Whatever the outcome is later tonight, McIlroy has been exceptional this week, with Saturday’s front nine being some of the best golf he’s played in his career.

Despite a bogey on the eighth, it seemed as though the whole field was left gobsmacked by the numbers he was putting on the board.

First, it was the birdie on one, then the eagle chip-in on two. A brilliant putt on three saw him go four under for the first trio of holes.

Three was the magic number yesterday with McIlroy making history as the first and only player at Augusta to hit consecutive threes in his first six holes at Augusta.

He’s been very methodic in the way he’s carried himself around Augusta this week – showing fleeting moments of emotion, but keeping everything in check, not letting the lows on Thursday dog him too much and not letting the highs of Saturday overwhelm him.

The 35-year-old admits he doesn’t want to be a total robot out there on the course and does want to ride the momentum. But he wants to keep things in check.

He gave a brief nod of thanks to the crowd and his playing partner Corey Conners yesterday after making that chip on the second. But he looks focused on getting over the line this week.

‘I think I am quite a sort of momentum player,’ he said on Saturday.

‘So I have to — there is a balance, though. You know, you have to sort of try to ride that momentum as much as you can but then also temper it with a little bit of, you know, rationale and logic.

‘And so it is, it’s a fine dance. But I certainly don’t want to be a robot out there, but at the same time I don’t want to be too animated, either.’

For him, McIlroy has been living in a bubble this week as he attempts to shut out all the outside noise and chatter about whether he can finally clinch the career grand slam and the coveted Green Jacket.

He revealed he’s written a few notes on the back of his yardage book to help him stay grounded and focused throughout his round, though was unwilling to say what they were.

‘Yeah, I mean, there’s — you know, I have a few little notes written in the back of my yardage book that I glance at every now and again while I’m walking the fairway. You know, just little reminders. Little, you know, one- or two-sentence things.’

‘And yeah, that’s really it.’

And it’s a nervy start from Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau.

McIlroy’s comes out looking slightly better though, with the Northern Irishman sending his ball into the bunker just up to the right of the fairway on the first.

It’s not a bad drive with the ball flying fairly straight – it just seems to have come off the right side of his clubface.

Bryson, meanwhile, hooks his ball out left, but he’s found it!

He’s stuck behind the trees in the pine straw and has a horrible angle into the green.

He plays it well though, striking low off the ground with a long-iron and reaches the lip of the green.

Min Woo Lee wraps up his final round at Augusta with a 74, having been penalised with an extra shot on Saturday for a rules infringement through Amen Corner.

He’s saved for par on 18 with a stunning chip out the sand, bouncing the ball into the hole to send the patrons mad on the final hole.

Meanwhile, Matt McCarty has just made up for a bogey on five with a stunning slam dunk on the par four seventh to get down for an eagle!

He’s back with a bang after a torrid 75 on Saturday.

The former US Open champion rips a stunning wedge to within 20-feet of the hole and drains the put to kick off his final round.

Tommy Fleetwood, on the other hand is struggling to get back into minus figures having navigated his way around Amen Corner level par.

The man from Merseyside had a bit of a turbulent start to the round going birdie, birdie, bogey, bogey, birdie, but has struggled to score since the fifth.

Elsewhere, I’ve been very pleased to see Max Homa do so well this week at the masters. He’s level at the start of his round and through four holes, but has really struggled with his swing in recent months.

Homa has missed the cut in each of his last five PGA Tour events in what’s been a wretched run of form.

He’s now three-under at the Masters, and could even push for a top-10 finish, if he can claw back a few shots.

Nick Faldo has joked he wants Irish Stew at the Champions dinner next year as he hopes Rory McIlroy can get over the line today to finally end his long wait for a Green Jacket.

The three-time Masters champion told Sky Sports golf: ‘What a historic day. Can you imagine you’re going to your club right now and you have a chance of winning the spring medal and the autumn cup? Imagine your nerves and this guy is going out for this… it’s better than history he’s joining five other guys, what an incredible achievement it could be [to win the Grand Slam].’

Here’s what Faldo thinks McIlroy has to do to get the edge over Dechambeau.

Justin Thomas bounced back after having conceded two bogeys in his opening four holes, with a pair of birdies on 17 and 18.

It was a difficult week though for the two-time PGA Tour Championship winner, who had started his final round at +4 but wrapped up at +2 for Sunday.

Thomas has come so agonisingly close to winning a PGA Tour event this year, having endured a torrid slump in 2024, missing the cut at the Players Championship, PGA Championship, Masters and US Open.

This year, he’s placed as a runner-up in two PGA Tour events and had looked like he could come into The Masters in good fettle, but struggled with a 76 in his third round.

Augusta National drew some questions from fans after making a big change for Sunday…

He’s underway on the first and rips a brilliant wedge shot onto the green to within only a few feet of the pin!

That’ll be a huge confidence boost for the US Open champ, who was seething after his 75 on Saturday…

This is a pretty cool story from Colt Knost of CBS, reported via Chris Shepherd on X.

Bryson is understood to have gone for a walk around the neighbourhood he is staying in last night and stopped to spend an hour with a group of people in their back garden practising their putting!

Hideki Matsuyama couldn’t quite get through 18 with a flawless card despite posting a brilliant 66. The 2021 Masters Champion just comes unstuck on the 18th but he’ll be made up with his performance today cutting his score down from +4 to -2.

Tyrrell Hatton has started well too, making birdie on the second after draining a pretty tough putt on the par-five from around 15-feet out.

Collin Morikawa is also charging up the leaderboard having birdied the second and third holes and is now up to -5.

It’s been a bit of a busy morning for Rory McIlroy who says he’s been busy watching lots of sport.

McIlroy is an investor in Alpine and said he enjoyed sitting down watching Pierre Gasly and Jack Doohan finish seventh and 13th on Sunday in the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Fortunately Sunday mornings are good for sport. I watched Carlos Alcaraz in the tennis in Monte Carlo. I watched a little bit of soccer, a little bit of F1. So I just tried to keep myself distracted with other sports I guess

But once you get to the golf course, things sort of settle down. You get into your routine and you get going and you do what’s familiar which is comforting and, yeah, that’s all I’ve been doing. That’s my strategy for the day and just trying to show up with the attitude I’ve shown up with over the first three days.

The Masters never ceases to amaze us with it’s absolutely insane food prices.

I for one want to try the pork BBQ sandwich over the pimento cheese and egg salad options!

McIlroy and Scheffler took on DeChambeau and Koepka last year in a 2v2 PGA Tour vs LIV Golf match.

The Northern Irishman was speaking to fans about being trumped by DeChambeau at the US Open. But the LIV star came out with a brilliant comment…

McIlroy walks over the the practice area and stops for a quick chat with his great mate Shane Lowry. He’s looking in good spirits!

Bryson meanwhile has just told CBS Sports: ‘I’m excited for the opportunity, I’m going to have a lot of fun today and it’s going to be a great battle.’

This should be a good grouping. The US Ryder Cup star is teeing up with Viktor Hovland and I’m very interested to see how they both play.

Let’s just touch on Shane Lowry’s comments in his interview on Saturday night again, with Lowry fuming at reporters at Augusta National.

Lowry cited Collin Morikawa’s comments earlier in the season, where the American refused to talk to journalists after missing out on winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Morikawa said he ‘didn’t owe anyone anything’ and copped flack from Paul McGinlee and Brandel Chamblee.

McIlroy had snubbed a post round interview after missing out on winning the US Open at Pinehurst last year, and he sided with Morikawa’s comments.

‘Well, he’s right,’ McIlroy said at Augusta this week.

‘Not that I think he could have worded it a little bit better, but look, every other athlete, whether it be in the NBA, NFL, they’re obligated to speak to you guys after a game. We’re not.

‘Whether that’s something that the PGA Tour looks to in terms of putting that into their rules and regulations, but as long as that’s not the case and we have that option to opt out whenever we want, expect guys to do that from time to time.’

The 2021 Masters Champion has just cut his score down from +4 to -2 but he’s running out of holes.

He’s through 15 and has birdied six holes so far, having spun a stunning chip onto the par-five to tap in for a four.

A couple of players are taking advantage of the conditions out there. It’s warm, the greens are firm and there’s not a lot of wind!

How’s this for a picture of Matsuyama on 12 too!

After leading the field for 36 holes, Justin Rose’s putting and wedges let him down during his third round, with the 2013 US Open Champion conceding five bogeys to card a third-round 75.

The Englishman appeared to fade out of contention while playing alongside Bryson De Chambeau yesterday. He noticeably struggled with the speed of the greens on seven, missed a 5-foot put on 16 and then three-putted on 18.

Interestingly, Rose hit 89 per cent of greens in regulation on Saturday, putting himself into some good spots to score but just wasn’t clinical enough.

He finished up his third round making an average of two putts per hole, having previously averaged 1.39 putts per hole during his first round.

The Englishman will start his final round at +5 and stands a chance of climbing back into contention if he can claim a few strokes back early on.

Min Woo Lee, who finished up four-over-par on Saturday, was handed a stroke penalty on Saturday evening after his round.

After striking his ball down the middle of the fairway, Lee had pulled out an iron as he prepared to strike the ball but the ball subsequently moved.

Lee had called for a rules official immediately after the incident occurs, he pleaded his case to the official, having grounded his club but unintentionally caused the ball to move.

His playing partner Harris English was not fussed by the incident and was happy to simply play on, but Lee was later awarded a stroke penalty.

Justin Thomas is having a difficult final round, after beginning his round at four-over, the American Ryder Cup star fell to +6 after back-to-back bogeys at three and four.

He’s pulled back a shot on the fifth, but this is really not representative of his form this season.

After slumping out of form over the past 12 months, missing the cut at the Players, Masters and US Open in 2024, Thomas has rekindled things this year, placing as a runner-up in two events this season.

But he has struggled in his final two rounds at Augusta this week, going in for 76 on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Tommy Fleetwood is also battling the course, having gone birdie, birdie, bogey, bogey, birdie across his first five holes!

First out today, Brian Campbell is mounting a late charge up the leaderboard but sadly he’s running out of holes.

He’s gone six-under par for his round and could even have dropped to seven-under had he not carded a bogey on the par-three fourth.

It looks like he’s about to concede another shot on the 14th having found himself into the pine straw, but what a final round this is shaping up to be from the American who started the day bottom of the leaderboard at +5.

Sir Nick Faldo has lifted the lid on the one thing McIlroy is up against today as the Northern Irishman bids to win a career grand slam.

McIlroy will join golfing greats Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Ben Hogan, Gary Player and Gene Sarazen, as the sixth player to win all four major titles, if he conquers Augusta on Sunday.

But Faldo thinks there’s one aspect of his game that he has to overcome to do so.

‘If you’re playing good, you’re playing good. But if anything goes wrong, it’s how you deal with the spiral of negativity…’ the three-time champion said.

‘That’s the only thing I think he’s [McIlroy] has to deal with.’

‘Then you’ve got Bryson… the Bison… He’s a Bison in a china shop isn’t he. On paper, Rory is playing better, so if he just play smart, put four great drives down the par-fives, that will be really important. Because he should shoot four-under for the par fives and then that will be a lock. If he just does that and plays smart elsewhere…’

Five-time Masters champion Tiger Woods is currently recovering from undergoing surgery on a ruptured Achilles injury.

The 49-year-old golfing great had been hopeful of returning to Augusta this year, having missed out on hosting the Genesis Invitational in February at Torrey Pines, following the passing of his mother.

The 49-year-old revealed earlier in March that he had been practising at home but felt a sharp pain in his ankle and was forced to undergo surgery on the injury.

He is expecting a full recovery – but there is no word yet on when he could potentially return to the PGA Tour.

It’s a mixed start from Tommy, who has gone birdie, birdie, bogey for his opening three holes on Sunday.

The Englishman started his round at +1 but has clawed his way back to evens.

In case you missed it, check out the heartwarming interview his son, Frankie, delivered during the Par Three Tournament earlier this week.

It’s also 20 years since Tiger Woods produced perhaps one of the greatest shots in the history of The Masters.

Tiger would go on to claim his fourth Green Jacket that year.

Interesting comments from Jordan Speith ahead of his final round at Augusta on the 10-year anniversary of his victory here at The Masters.

Spieth, who is also in the hunt for a career grand slam this year, has toiled this week at Augusta National and begins his final round at one-under later this afternoon.

Having won around this illustrious track previously, he believes a good night’s sleep and a fast start are what can help spur you on to win the Green Jacket.

I was maybe – ignorance is bliss – I was young I was 21 I didn’t sleep great on Friday or Saturday night relative to how I was sleeping then – those would be great nights to sleep now with kids. But, you know, I was up early and I tried to just have some fun, be lively and talk.

You know you want to be quiet because you’re thinking about the day, but in general it’s just better to break out of that and be yourself. I just went through my routine, I came out here [the practice area] early, I was putting incredibly that week and continued that on Sunday.

The start of the round was a huge deal, Rosey [Justin Rose] came out firing… but I poured it on top after the first three holes to go on top to get that early start. Those first five holes are a big deal here and you don’t get a lot of credit, because you saw what Rory did yesterday, where he’s five-under through six, but you could easily be two over through those first five without hitting too many bad shots. There’s a big difference in those first-five holes, and as we look to those leader groups that will be a big deal.

Hideki Matsuyama is flying at the start of his fourth round having dropped four shots through nine holes.

The 2021 Masters Champion started the day at +4 but he’s now level and is bounding his way up the leaderboard.

The Japanese star has just made a brilliant birdie from the pine straw on the ninth hole, chipping into the green to within 7-feet, before draining his putt.

A fascinating insight from the legendary golf coach, Butch Harmon, now, with the 81-year-old revealing what Bryson could do today to unsettle Rory and take a psychological advantage in their battle later this afternoon.

While these two will no doubt cross paths later this year at Bethpage, it looks like they’re set to play their own Ryder Cup of sorts around Augusta later this afternoon.

‘You got PGA Tour and LIV… Remember when LIV first came? Rory was very anti LIV Golf,’ Harmon told Sky Sports.

‘He said a lot of negative things about it.’

In fact, McIlroy lost friendships over the LIV-PGA spat, with the Northern Irishman falling out with long-standing friend Sergio Garcia, while also being embroiled in a fiery spat with ex-LIV CEO Greg Norman.

‘Bryson, is going to be like: “This is almost like a Ryder Cup”.

‘There’s going to be a little bit of this out there today,’ the legendary golf coach said, while rubbing his fists together implying that things could be a little edgy between the pair.

Harmon noted how Rory flew through his front nine holes on Saturday and how Bryson likes to take a little bit more time over his short game.

‘The other thing is Rory is going to outdrive Bryson on every hole. Now Bryson is kind of a slow player anyway, I think you might see Bryson walk a little slower down the fairway just to make Rory wait a little. And when you’re the first guy to hit, you’ve got the chance to get the ball up on the green and make the other guy look at it.

‘So there’s a lot of underlying things going on that reminds me of a little bit of how a Ryder Cup [plays out].’

I was very lucky to be invited to play Stoke Park earlier this year, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the movie Goldfinger.

Stoke Park was the filming location for Sean Connery’s now iconic golfing scene with Auric Goldfinger, where the pair hack their way around the grounds of the Berkshire-based manor, with 007 ultimately upstaging Goldfinger on the final hole.

Stoke Park is an absolutely outstanding golf course and has re-opened it’s doors to players after a huge refurbishment.

Interestingly, the course was designed by legendary course architect Harry Colt and his assistant, Alister MacKenzie – who famously designed, you guessed it, Augusta National.

And interestingly, the par-three seventh at Stoke Park is cited as the inspiration for the par-three 16th hole, Redbud, at Augusta National.

The 16th at Augusta has played as one of the trickier holes this week, with yesterday’s pin placement catching out a few players, including Shane Lowry, who didn’t get quite enough power on his shot, but got lucky missing the water thanks to the greenside bunker.

So far this week the 16th has played as the 8th hardest hole, accumulating 34 birdies, 147 pars and 52 bogeys. There have been eight doubles on the 170-yard par-three.

Rory and Bryson gave an insight into what their Saturday evenings might look like as the overnight leaders prepared for Sunday at The Masters.

Rory, who revealed earlier in the week that he had been reading John Grisham’s The Reckoning, told reporters that he has also been watching Brigerton, and revealed on Saturday that he’d head back to his house, grab some grub and chill out by watching an episode of the period TV series.

I’ll have some dinner. Maybe try to make it through the second episode of the third season of “Bridgerton.” Fell asleep during episode 1 last night. And that’s it.

Yeah, sort of put the phone away. Don’t look at it. Try not to look at it until tomorrow night.

Bryson, meanwhile, said he’d be beading back to his rental to watch a James Bond film, preferably one starring Piers Brosnan.

Yeah. I mean, for me, it’s going to be practising a little bit before it gets dark. Eating. Looking at my phone. I don’t have a problem with that.

And just getting treatment on my body. Relaxing as much as possible. Watching a movie, probably, tonight. A fun movie. I don’t know, what’s tonight — oh, it will probably be a James Bond movie or something like that. That will be fun. I love James Bond movies.

Tomorrow morning, I’ll probably go to bed late and get up around 10:00, 10:30 and see how the course is playing and go from there.

Daniel Craig or Piers Brosnan?

‘Piers Brosnan,’ he added.

Who is your favourite James Bond actor?

Simply put, I think he’s just been a little bit rusty this week.

Scottie Scheffler notably missed the first four PGA Tour events of 2025 after sustaining a hand injury at Christmas.

It has set him back a bit after the world No 1 rampaged through 2024, winning seven Tour events last year, including The Masters and the FedEx Cup.

He knows how to win around this track but Scottie is just struggling with a bit of consistency. After an opening round of 68, he carded five bogeys in his second round to finish one-under.

It’s his putting that let him down in his third round, with Scheffler three-putting twice during his second round, slumping to T36 in the leaderboard for his putting stats.

He missed a fairly routine putt on the seventh hole on Friday to make par, before back-to-back bogeys on 10 and 11, with Scheffler three-putting on the former.

Asked to characterise his round on Saturday, Scheffler said:

Honestly, I don’t know. At times I felt good, at times I felt bad. I just couldn’t really get anything going. I think I ended up with even, which felt like I had to scramble a lot today, actually.

I got off to a good start today, but after that I didn’t really feel like I gave myself enough opportunities, and the opportunities that I did have, I didn’t really quite take advantage of.

Today and yesterday were days where I could have shot myself out of the tournament. I battled really hard both days. Today I made some great up-and-downs. I think I only had two bogeys for the day, which some of the spots I put myself in I felt like was a decent job of only making two bogeys.

Going into tomorrow, have a good front nine and start moving my way up the leaderboard and you never know what can happen on the back nine. Just going out tomorrow, just try to get off to a good start, and maybe start like today, just hole a few more putts.

Six birdies in eight holes…

Zach Johnson had a day to remember on Saturday. The 2023 US Ryder Cup captain was clinical in round three to rise to -4 on the leaderboard with a card of 66.

Check out some of his shots around the back nine here…

Let’s just run it back to Shane Lowry’s fiery press conference yesterday. His comments came after Morikawa doubled down this week on comments he had made about his obligations to conduct post-round interviews.

It began after he was criticised for choosing not to talk to the media after missing out on winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational to Russell Henley last month.

Morikawa said at The Players Championship that he was ‘just p***** off’ and that ‘he didn’t want to talk to anyone’ before stating ‘I don’t owe anyone anything.’

After his first round at Sawgrass, Morikawa stopped reporters at the end of his press conference, stating: ‘I just want to add one more thing.

‘I might bite my tongue after saying this, but to the Brandel Chamblees, to the Paul McGinleys, to the Rocco Mediates of the world, I don’t regret anything I said.

‘It might have been a little bit harsh that I don’t owe anyone, but I don’t owe anyone.

‘I respect the fans. I’m very thankful for them. I’m grateful. It makes me emotional, but it hurts to hear people say this [criticise], and especially you guys [media], because I finished the round and I went to go sign for 10 minutes, 15 minutes for all the people after.

‘Not a single person from media went to go follow me because, I don’t know. But that’s me. So for people to be calling me out is – it’s interesting. It doesn’t show anything.

‘I get what you guys are saying. But I was there. I was signing for every single person right after the round, whether they wanted it or not. I finished second. They couldn’t care less. But yeah, I’m going to leave it at that, all right?’

But Morikawa has once again made his feelings clear on the subject at Augusta this week.

After such a painful loss at Bay Hill, he even admitted that he struggled to want to be around anyone, including his partner.

‘We talk about giving people space to be who they are, and at that time, it was for me to be who I was, and I didn’t want to be around anyone. I didn’t even want to be around my wife. I said hi to her after, we hugged, and I just went straight to the locker room.’

He then hit out at the media directly, claiming that media can’t just come up and expect him to answer questions when he’s playing well, implying there was a lack of consistency.

‘I think there needs to be a balance and an ebb and flow between everything. I do want to be here for you guys, but here’s the thing: I’ve been in the top 5 in the world before, and people don’t come up to me and ask me questions. If you guys – you can’t just ask me when I’m playing well.

“You guys should be asking the top 10 players every single week, every single day, and just document it. ‘Then you get a sense of who we are and you get a flow of how that comes to be.’

Check out the full interview here…

There are plenty of rules at Augusta National. Some go under the radar, others are well known around the world.

But there’s one rule that stands out the most and allows patrons to live in the moment, absorb the atmosphere and just enjoy the quality of golf on show.

Find out why this old-fashioned rule is an absolute stroke of genius below…

Right let’s check in on the course and a couple of players are making movements down at the bottom of the leaderboard.

Things are not going so well for leftie Akshay Bhatia, who has picked up two shots on the first and the third holes this morning with a pair of bogeys. Bhatia, who is one of the most creative wedge players on the PGA Tour right now found the sand twice on the first to get his round off to a dismal start.

Justin Thomas is also having a difficult start, having gained a shot on the par-four third hole with a poor wedge shot out of the sand setting him back.

Meanwhile, former champion Hideki Matsuyama has come out to score a birdie on the third to get down to -3 while former US Open champion Wyndham Clark has gone birdie-birdie for his first two holes.

Clark endured a difficult round on Saturday hitting six bogeys, including a five on the par-four 18th.

He’s come out to compete this morning and is now back to +1.

Back in 2012, Rory McIlroy gave a candid, insightful and honest interview to Sky Sports where he walked us through the heartache and pain of his implosion at the 2011 Masters.

McIlroy had a share of the lead for the first three rounds and was primed to advance to win the tournament on Sunday. But a dismal round that saw him shoot 80, saw him fall down the leaderboard, with Charl Schwartzel seizing the opportunity to win the Green Jacket.

The Northern Irishman has had some tough times around Augusta National in the past, and it has appeared that the weight of trying to win the career grand slam and Green Jacket has stopped him from playing his best golf.

McIlroy came agonisingly close to winning here in 2022, finishing T2 behind Scottie Scheffler, in what was his best finish at Augusta.

Someone who also came agonisingly close to winning on this hallowed golf course was Greg Norman, who was upstaged by Nick Faldo in agonising circumstances, back in 1996.

According to McIlroy, the ‘Shark’ gave him some very telling advice following his round at Augusta in 2011.

‘Greg was very good,’ McIlroy told Sky Sports in an interview back in 2012.

‘He can probably relate to me more than anyone else. He said to me that I was 20 when it happened to me, he was 40. He made me realise that it wasn’t going to be my last chance. He told me to be very self centred, create this bubble around you and don’t let anyone affect or interfere with what you need to do.’

Six-time winner, Jack Nicklaus, who sat down to talk with McIlroy about his Masters strategy last week over lunch, told the Northern Irishman he wanted to kick him up the ‘rear-end’.

‘Jack [Nicklaus] was very honest with me and said he wanted to give me a kick in the rear-end. He always said that the most pressure that he felt was the pressure that he put on himself and you have to relish that and make that a challenge for yourself. I had three-and-a-half unbelievable days and nine holes that I’d like to forget. Things didn’t work out the way that I wanted them to but it’s still my favourite tournament in the world.’

Lowry vented his frustrations at reporters during an interview with Sky Sports on Saturday after he was pressed on whether he feels his great mate Rory McIlroy can win the Masters.

Expletives aside, the Irishman was absolutely spot-on with what he said.

At five-under he is still well in contention to launch an attack on the leaderboard today, despite agonisingly having bogeyed his final two holes on Saturday to finish the day at evens.

But after his round, he was asked about McIlroy, snapping back at the Sky reporter: ‘I’m not going to stand here and talk about Rory for 10 minutes. I’m trying to win the tournament, as well.

‘I know that’s what y’all want me to talk about, but I’ve just had a s— finish, I’ve got a chance to win the Masters tomorrow, and I’m going to go hit some balls.’

The conversation then moved on to media duties, something that has been a topical subject of late among many golfers, particularly Collin Morikawa, who lashed back at reporters over having to do media duties.

In fact, according to McIlroy, golfers don’t always have an obligation to speak to the media after their final round.

Lowry continued: ‘We talk about Collin Morikawa a few weeks ago. I think we need time. I think I need half an hour now to sit there and gather my thoughts.

‘I can’t be coming to talk to you guys straight away. It shouldn’t be happening. I don’t agree with it.

‘Tennis players have to talk to the media, but they have half an hour or hour before they have to do it. I feel like we should have the same thing.

‘That’s how I feel. I’m probably going to say something stupid. I probably already have said something stupid because I’m pissed off right now. I’m just going to leave, OK?’

He then proceeded to walk off and headed down to the practice range.

I’ve been looking back through some of my favourite shots from Saturday and have compiled a quick list of some of the best strikes of the day.

I’ve been marvelling at Rory’s chip-in on the second or his six-iron approach on the 15th.

Both are simply sensational efforts but his magic touch around the green on the second was simply sensational.

Here’s McIlroy’s six-iron on the 15th. The stopping power the world No 2 has with his long wedges is simply sensational.

This was another lovely shot for Tyrrell Hatton for a birdie on 15. We saw Patrick Cantlay put two in the drink from near to this angle on Thursday afternoon, so this was weighted perfectly.

Im Sung-jai chipped in twice on Saturday, but considering how deep this bunker was, this is my favourite of the two. Brilliant wedge play from the sand.

Bryson’s final birdie of the day on the 18th capped off a run of three birdies in his final four holes. This texas wedge from over 50-feet out was perfectly weighted.

And lastly how about this for a chip in from LIV star Joaquin Niemann? Interestingly, it came after he had just chunked a chip shot up the hill. He responded immediately, bouncing the ball into the hole to seal victory.

Golfing greatness awaits for one player today.

I’ll leave it to the iconic Jack Nicklaus to set the scene…

US star Brian Campbell has got us underway after teeing off on the first, but gets himself into a spot of bother, sending his first shot right of the fairway, before finding the green on the left side of the green.

You might be wondering why Campbell is playing on his own – but in fact he is not, he’ll be playing with a non-competing marker.

On Saturday, a man called Michael McDermott made a stir at Augusta National after he teed up alongside Tom Kim, who teed off on his own.

It comes as an odd number of players had made the cut this year, meaning that Kim needed a marker to play alongside.

Up steps McDermott, the CEO of a financial services firm in Pennsylvania.

It is one of the quirky and less well-known storylines of Augusta, with McDermott being a member of the club.

Michael McDermott (pictured above)

McDermott and Tom Kim (pictured left and right above)

But he’s not just a part-time hacker. In fact, he is, right now, one of the best members playing at Augusta National and has 10 major victories in the Golf Association of Philadelphia, winning the amateur title in 2008, 2013 and 2016.

McDermot doesn’t have to record a score and didn’t have his name on his caddies back.

He’s also not able to talk to the media during his round.

‘He played great actually,’ Kim said. Hits the ball really far. His irons, sometimes he grabbed one club longer than me. He was a complete baller.’

We’re not quite sure if McDermott has returned to play with Campbell today but he certainly will be playing alongside a marker today!

Two-time champion Scottie Scheffler’s menu got many people talking this week.

He got the ball rolling with Cheeseburger sliders and firecracker shrimp.

The world No 1 then made a funny nod to the hand injury he sustained at Christmas that ruled him out of the early parts of this year’s PGA Tour season. He had been looking to make ravioli for his family but cut his hand open while trying to make the pasta dish. In a nod to the moment, he added Papa Scheff’s meatball and Ravioli bites to his menu.

For the mains, in true Texas style, he had Chilli, Wood-fired Cowboy Ribeye or blackened Redfish.

And for Dinner, Scheffler played it simple with a Warm Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie.

I’d definitely say that is up there with one of the best menus we’ve seen from a Masters Champion.

Rory McIlroy left me stunned yesterday with his 369-yard drive on the par-five second hole.

It was a brilliant shot and his driving just seems to get better and better each year.

Bryson DeChambeau, though, is a machine and the mad scientist has perfected his ball-striking abilities to help him hit the ball longer than anyone else in golf. He spoke earlier in the week of how he has been tinkering with his club heads away from the course to help him get the optimal balance and clubhead speed, to stripe the ball speeds upwards of 190mph.

Both players are two of the biggest hitters in the game, but right now, it is Bryson who is, on average, striking the ball just a little bit further than McIlroy averaging 330 yards to the Northern Irishman’s 324 yards.

Despite that, it was McIlroy who performed better with the big stick on Saturday, with the European Ryder Cup hero averaging 340 yards off the tee, hitting 10 of 14 fairways with his drive.

Bryson, meanwhile, managed an average of 237 yards but was more clinical, hitting 11 out of 14 fairways.

During a range session ahead of their match last year, where Bryson teamed up with fellow LIV star Brooks Koepka and Rory paired up with Scottie Scheffler for a 2v2 match, Bryson joked with Rory about missing out on winning at Pinehurst.

‘I’m trying to get him back for what he did to me at the US Open,’ McIlroy said, sending a barb to Bryson who was chipping next to him.

The American responded hilariously: ‘To be fair you kind of did it to yourself…’

It appears, though, that there is no animosity between the two competitors following Bryson’s victory, with the two-time US Open champion revealing what McIlroy said to him after Pinehurst.

‘No, not really,’ he said when asked whether they had spoken much after the US Open.

‘He said congrats at the British Open — at The Open Championship, excuse me. And that’s pretty much it. We’ve been fine ever since. It’s not really been an issue. It’s just going to be a fun day tomorrow. I’m really excited for the test.’

I really liked how the course was set up on Saturday. The 16th hole’s pin was set up in a particularly difficult spot, with Shane Lowry and Matt McCarty struggling with their tee shots there yesterday.

And it looks like we could be in for a lot more fun again, with today’s pin placements, especially around Amen Corner, set to cause a few headaches for our golfers.

First up, hole No 2 is in an interesting position. The fairway doglegs around from right-to-left and, depending on the shape of the shot you can hit off the tee, players may find it difficult getting the ball up and over the right greenside bunker, with the pin sitting so close to it on the right side of the green.

The fourth hole is another interesting placement, again with a deep and wide greenside bunker fully in play in front of the pin at the front-right of the green. Interestingly the fourth hole was the joint-second hardest hole on the course on Saturday, with 17 players scoring bogeys. Only three players made birdie.

Some players could find themselves in a spot of difficulty on the ninth too, with the hole curving from right-to-left, requiring players to pull a draw in from around the trees to land the ball onto the left side of the fairway and avoid the bunkers on the left.

Around Amen Corner, water is fully in play on all three holes, with greenskeepers setting the pins up close to the hazards just on either side of the greens. The 13th looks particularly challenging, with the green sloping away to the water hazard on the right.

And back to hole No 16, the tee has been moved right to the back of the green and sits just in front of the huge sand trap to the back right of the hole. That presents a lot of trouble for any player getting stuck in the sand. The notorious green on 16 slopes down towards the water hazard and players in the bunker will want to be very careful when playing out of the sand not to overcook their shot.

It’s been a simply sensational week of golf so far and Saturday delivered perhaps one of the best days at a major in a long time.

Rory McIlroy stormed to take the clubhouse lead and starts ahead of Bryson DeChambeau by two shots on Sunday. It was a sensational performance from the world No 2, who became the first man in the history at Augusta National to card six consecutive threes during his opening six holes.

His chip in on the second for eagle will go down as the shot of the day, but let’s not forget his approach on 15. Some online have said it bore an uncanny likeness to Tiger in 2011.

Bryson was equally impressive yesterday coming in two shots behind McIlroy, but it was his short irons that perhaps let him down a little and a couple of missed putts stopped him from coming in with a better score.

Despite that, he’ll come into the day riding high on a stunning finish, birdieing three of the final four holes of his third round, which included a phenomenal texas wedge from off the green, which he rolled 50-feet into the hole.

There were plenty of other incredible storylines from Saturday. Justin Rose, the leader after 36 holes, just couldn’t hold on to the top spot as his round unravelled due to some errant putting.

He is, though, still in contention, alongside Scottie Scheffler, Shane Lowry and interestingly Jason Day all at five-under ahead of the fourth round.

Ludvig Aberg, who finished T2 on his Masters Debut here last year, has rallied after toiling with his game all week to finish tied at six-under with former Masters Champion Patrick Reed – who snuck up the leaderboard with a classy 69 on Saturday.

And then there’s Canadian Corey Conners, who sits in third place at eight-under. While Bryson and Rory have been getting all the headlines, Connors has been quietly going about his business and has showcased his excellent ball-striking abilities.

Check this out for an approach…

Looks like conditions are going to be perfect for scoring today at The Masters.

Yesterday there were a few big scores, with Rory McIlroy and Zach Johnson both excelling out there.

Forecasts coming out of Augusta right now are expecting not a whole lot of wind around the course today, compared to Saturday’s blustery conditions, with maximum gusts of 8mph expected later on in the afternoon.

The sun is also shining on this illustrious golf course with temperatures set to rise to 21ºc.

Balmy weather for a game of golf, don’t you think?

That means that the greens are likely to be running a little firmer later on in the day which our late starters, Bryson DeChambeau, Rory McIlroy, Patrick Reed and Corey Conners may have to watch out for.

All eyes are well and truly on Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau this afternoon. Our leaders will go out at 2:30 PM EDT / 7:30 PM BST later this evening.

Corey Connors and Patrick Reed, who snuck up the leaderboard on Saturday afternoon will proceed them at 2:20 PM EDT / 7:20 PM BST.

Meanwhile, Brian Campbell will get proceedings underway as the first player to tee off in just under an hours time at 9:40 AM EDT / 2:40 PM BST.

Here are my featured groups for Masters Sunday…

• Brian Campbell – 9:40 AM EDT / 2:40 PM BST
• Hideki Matsuyama / Akshay Bhatia – 9:50 AM EDT / 2:50 PM BST
• Justin Thomas / Min Woo Lee – 10:00 AM EDT / 3:00 PM BST
• Patrick Cantlay / Wyndham Clark – 10:20 AM EDT / 3:20 PM BST
• Matt Fitzpatrick / Nick Taylor – 11:00 AM EDT / 4:00 PM BST
• Davis Riley / Tommy Fleetwood – 11:20 AM EDT / 4:20 PM BST
• Aaron Rai / Sahith Theegala – 11:40 AM EDT / 4:40 PM BST
• Joaquin Niemann / Jon Rahm – 12:20 PM EDT / 5:20 PM BST
• Jordan Spieth / Max Greyserman – 12:40 PM EDT / 5:40 PM BST
• Tyrrell Hatton / Matt McCarty – 12:50 PM EDT / 5:50 PM BST
• Collin Morikawa / Viktor Hovland – 1:10 PM EDT / 6:10 PM BST
• Justin Rose / Zach Johnson – 1:50 PM EDT / 6:50 PM BST
• Scottie Scheffler / Shane Lowry – 2:00 PM EDT / 7:00 PM BST
• Ludvig Aberg / Jason Day – 2:10 PM EDT / 7:10 PM BST
• Corey Conners / Patrick Reed – 2:20 PM EDT / 7:20 PM BST
• Rory McIlroy / Bryson DeChambeau – 2:30 PM EDT / 7:30 PM BST

Hello! And happy Masters Sunday!

We’ve got an exciting day in store, with several players in contention to claim the Green Jacket at Augusta this afternoon.

Saturday delivered as one of the best and most enthralling days of golf I have personally watched in a long time.

But with at least nine players able to mount an attack on the top of the leaderboard, I’m expecting to see a few fireworks today.