A chaotic 30 minutes have completely changed the complexion of the 2026 Masters as defending champion Rory McIlroy surrendered his mammoth lead in the third round.
McIlroy took a record six-stroke lead into Saturday’s (local time) play at Augusta but it had been reduced to two by the time he made the turn after an even-par front nine.
It evaporated completely when American Cameron Young tied him with a clutch birdie putt on the 16th hole, while McIlroy bogeyed the par-three 12th to fall out of top spot.
Young finished a round of 65, the combined best of the tournament thus far, to hold the outright by one stroke when he signed his card.
McIlroy tied him on 11-under and reclaimed his solo spot atop the leaderboard with huge birdies on 14 and 15, but ended up sharing the lead at 11-under after a bogey at 17 completed a 1-over 73 third round.
It was a stunning comeback from Young, who won the Players Championship last month, considering he started the day eight strokes off the lead.
Cameron Young won the prestigious Players Championship last month. (Getty Images: Jared C. Tilton)
If Young were to win, he would be the first Masters winner to do so after trailing by more than five shots at the halfway mark of the tournament.
He was paired with Australian Jason Day, who carded four straight birdies from 11 to 15 to apply the pressure before finding a bunker and handing a shot back on the 16th.
But the Aussie’s round of 68 was enough to keep him in the mix at 8-under, tied for fifth and three strokes back heading into the last day’s play.
It was clearly Young’s day, as evidenced by his tee shot on 13 flying wide left before clattering into a tree and bouncing back into a lovely spot on the fairway.
“Oh, how nice is that now,” Day was heard saying.
Jason Day hit four straight birdies from holes 11 to 15. (Getty Images: Jared C TIlton)
Young found the water and bogeyed the 15th to kick off a game-changing passage of play between himself and McIlroy, but after taking the lead got another kind ricochet off a tree on the 17th.
In the meantime, McIlroy’s wayward long game finally caught up with him.
He hit the water on the 11th and double bogeyed after missing a six-foot putt, went way left on the 12th for bogey and once again had to hack out of the pine needles to the right of the fairway on 13.
Despite an excellent tournament, Rory McIlroy has consistently missed fairways off the tee. (Getty Images: Hector Vivas)
He managed to save par after moving spectators and a generator out of the way, but it was a big change from the second round, when he went six-under through the last seven holes to open up a massive gap on the field.
“You can’t be relying on your short game and putting for four days in a row with this amount of intensity and pressure,” 2008 Masters winner Trevor Immelman said in commentary.
“The long game has unravelled even more for him today.”
One man whose long game did not unravel was McIlroy’s mate Shane Lowry, who delivered the highlight of the third round with an ace on the par-three 16th hole.
World number one Scottie Scheffler also surged back into contention with an eagle at the second and five birdies in a bogey-free 65.
After starting the day 12 shots behind McIlroy, Scheffler moved within five of the lead and said he remained firmly in the hunt.
“I don’t feel like I’m out of this tournament,” the two-time Masters winner said.
Adam Scott, the 2013 winner, is the only other Australian still in the tournament and sits in a tie for 36th after his first under-par round left him 2-under heading into the final day.