For nearly three-quarters of this Masters, there were serious fashion concerns.
How, pray tell, would a green jacket look over a Waste Management shirt? Such an awkward pairing. But it wasn’t like the tournament was going to switch its signature champion’s symbol to green bib overalls just to accommodate Charley Hoffman.
Such worry began to fade when the less-than-classic Masters leader with the less-than-regal-sounding sponsor finally yielded on the 16th hole Saturday. And, behold, a really big-name Masters bloomed. Who needs azaleas when you have five of the world’s top 14 players bunched within three shots of each other at the top of the leaderboard?
The stars have aligned.
As Jordan Spieth said, “There are some studs at the top of the leaderboard.” Indeed, if men’s golf put out a calendar, you’d find a good part of Sunday’s central characters posed somewhere within the spring and summer months.
Two are at the lead, at 6 under. That’s where you’ll find 2013 U.S. Open champion and Olympic gold medalist Justin Rose. And the world’s 11th-ranked player, and officially the best active player never to win a major, Sergio Garcia.
Sideling in just a stroke back at 5 under is the ascendant Rickie Fowler, who in turn is just one up on 2015 Masters champion Jordan Spieth.
Sorry, Charley. While Hoffman, who had held or shared the lead since his opening-round 65, is still only two shots behind Rose and Garcia, he has been relegated to a bit part. His wet double-bogey on the par-3 16th undid much good work he had done Saturday and shuffled him back to a tie for fourth at 4 under.
Two other former Masters champions — Adam Scott (3 under) and Charl Schwartzel (2 under) — are aching for a sequel.
The two biggest movers of the third round were Rose, who fashioned the day’s lowest round (67), and Spieth (68), apparently fully recovered from the Thursday quadruple bogey that would have laid low a lesser player.
Just a par there on No. 15 two days ago, and he’d be basking in a two-stroke lead this evening. But he can hardly afford to think that way.
“After the first round, I couldn’t ask for much better than this,” Spieth said. “You know, we fought back tremendously to have a chance to win this golf tournament, and no matter what happens at the end, we will have a chance to win with a really good round tomorrow.”
Rose, who tidied up his day with three birdies over his closing four holes, readily recognized that he was in some special company. And he would like to remind the others that they are in special company, too.
“There’s wonderful storylines,” he said. “Obviously I’m a major champion, but I’m looking for more, and I’m certainly looking for my first Masters and my first green jacket. This is a place I dearly love and would dearly love to be part of the history here. Everybody has a storyline.”
Rose was paired with Spieth in the final round of 2015 and had the best view of the young champion’s historic run to 18 under and a four-stroke victory.
“I take a lot of confidence from the fact that I played in the final group with Jordan in 2015 and played well. I had a positive experience there. I lost to a record-setting performance, really. Many other years, my score would have been good enough.
“So, I take confidence that I’ve put four great rounds together here in the past here, too, and I enjoyed that occasion.”
Listen: The AJC’s Steve Hummer and Jeff Schultz and WSB’s Jay Black discuss the third round:
After shooting his 68, a round whose only flaw was a three-putt bogey on the par-3 16th, Spieth should have all the momentum he needs to seriously challenge for his second green jacket in three years.
Of great note was how he performed on his nemesis holes Saturday (yes, he’s only 23 and already has two of them at Augusta National). On the par-3 12th, where his quadruple bogey doomed him last year, Spieth on Saturday saved par from behind the green, near the played-out azaleas, requiring a 10-foot putt to do so.
On the par-5 15th, site of his ugly 9 on this tournament’s first day, Spieth was surgical. His third shot stuck a foot from the hole, and while he could have made his birdie blindfolded, he chose not to.
A front-runner for most of his days at the Masters, Spieth almost seemed to relish the comeback he has only partially completed.
“A new experience for me, coming from behind on Sunday at the Masters, which is kind of fun to say,” he said.
Those who stay for the jacket ceremony Sunday might be advised to wear sunglasses, even at dusk. And perhaps CBS might be wise to run a trailer beneath the screen advising its viewers to not adjust the color on their flat screens. For the clash could be jarring if Fowler breaks through.
“Vibrant orange” pants are on the menu for Fowler for Masters Sunday, according to the Puma website. Yes, his entire wardrobe for the week was laid out for public consumption. Because he’s Rickie Fowler.
But the thing about Fowler is that for all the boy-band-type branding that goes along with him, he is a player of some depth. Here at the Masters, he has expressed affection for the old-fashioned hand-turned scoreboards. And he was one of the handful of players who came out early Thursday to witness the tribute to Arnold Palmer and the ceremonial tee shots of Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player.
Similarly Fowler played a very mature round Saturday, hanging in there until he could finally take it to 1 under with birdies on the two back-nine par 5s.
“This is by far the best I’ve felt in a major,” said Fowler, seeking his first. “(Sunday) is going to be a good time.”
Sure hope those coveted Masters green jackets are double-stitched because Sunday there will be a host of strong-willed golfers pulling at every sleeve, lapel and coattail.
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