2018 Masters: Patrick Reed has big lead, shot at history at Augusta National

Patrick Reed can make history and get a new jacket in the process Sunday at Augusta National Golf Club.

Reed, a 27-year-old Texan looking for his first major championship, shot a 5-under par 67 Saturday and leads the 82^nd Masters by three shots heading into the final round. Reed, who is at 14-under for the tournament, will have to hold off 28-year-old Northern Ireland native Rory McIlroy, who sits at 11 under par and is attempting to complete a career grand slam this week.

Reed has rounds of 69, 66 and 67 so far this week. No player has posted four rounds in the 60s in a single Masters.

“The biggest thing is just going out and playing golf, not allow the moment to take over, just go hit golf shots,” Reed said. “I feel like I’m hitting the ball well enough and putting well enough that I just need to go play the game and not worry about everything else.”

McIlroy, who shot a 7-under 65 Saturday, will be trying to become the sixth golfer to complete the career grand slam, winning all four of the sport’s majors at some point during his career.

“Patrick’s got a three-shot lead. All the pressure is on him,” McIlroy said. “He’s got to go out and protect that. He’s got some guys chasing him who are big-time players, and he’s got to go sleep on that. I feel like I have nothing to lose.”

McIlroy was one of three players to shoot 65 Saturday, joining Rickie Fowler and Jon Rahm. The daylong rains that were forecast all week never arrived at Augusta National. Instead, it rained just often enough to slow down the speed on the greens and put the course at the mercy of the game’s best players.

“The biggest difference was the greens being a tad bit softer and a little more accessible,” said Rahm, the 27-year-old Spaniard who had never played a bogey-free round in a major until Saturday. “I feel like the humidity made us be just a little more aggressive, and the fact that a couple of us started out strong, I think it helped out a lot.”

The top six players on the leader board were a combined 34-under par for the day.

“The course, obviously, softened up a little bit, and more so just the greens,” Fowler said. “I would say the green speed was just down a little bit because of the moisture. It seemed like they were just a great speed to make putts.”

Reed had two eagles on the back nine Saturday, including a 27-yard chip-in from the second cut on No. 15. He is 13-under on the par 5s here this week.

“With all the rain softening up the greens, you knew guys were going to make a charge,” Reed said.

Columbia’s Dustin Johnson, the No. 1 ranked player in the world, shot a 1-under 71 Saturday while playing with Jordan Spieth and is 4-under for the tournament, alone in 11^th place.

“I thought I hit it beautifully today, just hit a lot of good putts, just nothing went in the hole,” Johnson said. “I mean, every hole it seemed like I had a really good look at it, but couldn't get anything to go. There's a lot of people in front of me, a lot of really good golfers, but still need to go out tomorrow and shoot a really low score.”

Aiken’s Kevin Kisner shot his best career round at Augusta National, posting a 3-under 69. Kisner had four birdies and a bogey and stands even par for the tournament and tied for 21^st.

Tiger Woods had three birdies and three bogeys and ended up at even par for the day and 4-over for the tournament. He’s tied for 40^th. By making the cut here, Woods will move back into the top 100 of the world golf rankings.

“I'm just kind of gradually working on it, gradually building,” he said. “I was pretty far out there, I think, what, I'm going to guess like over 1,400 or something, whatever it was. I wish this week would have been a little bit better, hopefully (Sunday) I can shoot something, get me to even par or even in the red, I think that will be a good goal tomorrow and hopefully I can get it done.”

Sunday's winner will earn a check of $1.98 million.

Sunday Masters tee times

a=amateur

10 a.m. — Vijay Singh

10:10 a.m. — Ian Poulter, Brian Harman

10:20 a.m. — Chez Reavie, Phil Mickelson

10:30 a.m. — Tyrrell Hatton, a-Doug Ghim

10:40 a.m. — Martin Kaymer, Kyle Stanley

10:50 a.m. — Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Xander Schauffele

11 a.m. — Bryson DeChambeau, Branden Grace

11:10 a.m. — Rafael Cabrera Bello, Tiger Woods

11:20 a.m. — Bernhard Langer, Fred Couples

11:40 a.m. — Xsch Johndon, Webb Simpson

11:50 a.m. — Ryan Moore, Jhonattan Vegas

12 p.m. — Adam Scott, Daniel Berger

12:10 p.m. — Haotong Li, Paul Casey

12:20 p.m. — Adam Hadwin, Hideki Matsuyama

12:30 p.m. — Satoshi Kodaira, Russell Henley

12:40 p.m. — Kevin Kisner, Francesco Molinari

12:50 p.m. — Matthew Fitzpatrick, Si Woo Kim

1 p.m. — Charley Hoffman, Tony Finau

1:20 p.m. — Jimmy Walker, Matt Kuchar

1:30 p.m. — Jason Day, Bernd Wiesberger

1:40 p.m. — Justin Rose, Louis Oosthuizen

1:50 p.m. — Dustin Johnson, Cameron Smith

2 p.m. — Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth

2:10 p.m. — Bubba Watson, Marc Leishman

2:20 p.m. — Henrik Stenson, Tommy Fleetwood

2:30 p.m. — Rickie Fowler, Jon Rahm

2:40 p.m. — Patrick Reed, Rory McIlroy

How to watch on TV

Television: Sunday, 2-7 p.m. (CBS Sports).

Free live Masters stream

Watch the Masters online at www.masters.com. Live video channels from Amen Corner, the 15th hole, 16th hole and a featured group.

Estimated times — Amen Corner (Nos. 11, 12 and 13) from 11:45 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday; Nos. 15 and 16 from 12:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday; and featured group from 12:30 p.m. to completion of play on Saturday and Sunday. The Masters iPad application will display the video channels and a live digital simulcast of CBS Sports' weekend coverage.

Masters leaderboard

This story was originally published April 7, 2018 at 2:39 PM with the headline "2018 Masters: Patrick Reed has big lead, shot at history at Augusta National."