Australian golf fans are daring to dream that Jason Day can win the nation’s second ever green jacket after a chaotic moving day at The Masters.
Rory McIlroy squandered his record six-shot lead, throwing the tournament wide open with a legend declaring that most of the top ten have a realistic shot at winning.
The only place to watch the Masters Live & Exclusive is Fox Sports. Available on Kayo. | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.
McIlroy’s stumble has created a fascinating final pairing showdown between two of the world’s best that offers a completely different narrative to his battle with Bryson DeChambeau a year ago.
Meanwhile, a comparison between McIlroy and a polarising Australian great resurfaced, to the disgust of one of golf’s most prominent voices.
Augusta National itself was also in the spotlight.
Many were left disappointed by a major change implemented by the tournament organisers that led to a record-breaking third round.
Scroll down for the biggest talking points from the third round of the 2026 Masters!
READ MORE
R3 wrap — McIlroy’s historic lead gone as Aussie surges into mix on classic Masters ‘Moving Day’
McIlroy leads after rocky Round 3 start | 02:35
COULD SUNDAY BE JASON’S DAY?
It might finally be Jason Day’s time.
The 38-year-old former world No.1 has put a green jacket within striking distance as he heads into the final round just three shots behind leaders Rory McIlroy and Cameron Young.
Day has a fascinating history with Augusta National.
This is 15th Masters appearances and he has five top tens under his belt.
He is well versed in the pressure cooker that it is Masters Sunday.
On debut in 2011, Day shared runner-up honours with countryman Adam Scott as Charl Schwartzel birdied the last four holes to spoil the party.
Two years later, Day finished third, having been in the hunt to almost the very end, as Scott broke Australia’s Augusta drought in a playoff.
Even last year, Day could not be counted out until two late bogeys reduced him to a share of eighth.
After so many near miss, it might finally be the 38-year-old’s time.
Eleven years have past since he won his sole major championship to date at that PGA Championship.
He is also one of only four players in history to secure the unwanted runner-up career grand slam – having come second at all four majors.
It is a resume that feels like it deserves more.
A victory would also be a remarkable triumph considering four years ago, Day did not even play The Masters as a crippling back injury threatened to derail his career.
While others may feel the weight of trying to finally breakthrough at Augusta, Day believes he is the contender who can play with total freedom.
“I feel like the guys that are leading right now have all the pressure,” Day said.
“I’m the chaser. Usually the chasers don’t really have a lot of the pressure. Guys at the top of the leaderboard always are trying to defend the lead, whereas I’m pushing forward trying to cut into the lead.
“I feel good about my game. I feel very happy with where things are. I’m looking forward to the challenge at least.
“If I can get myself around the lead on the back side, I’ll be very pleased.”
One of the key aspects of Day’s play so far has been his impressive ability to limit mistakes.
Across 54 holes, he has made only five bogeys.
Only two players in the field have had fewer blemishes on their scorecards.
Day knows he can hang tough to give himself a chance when The Masters really begins, on the back nine on Sunday, as the saying goes.
“You’ve just got to try and get yourself the opportunity on the back side,” Day said.
“If you can get somewhere close to the lead on the back side, anything can happen.
“The goal is to try and cut into the lead tomorrow through nine, and if I can do that, great, then get myself somewhere near the lead on the back side and try and give myself opportunities.”
READ MORE
R2 Talking Pts — How Rory ignited for historic Masters stunner as brutal Smith reality laid bare
Every Aussie — Day’s wild chips-in move in bid to end 11-year drought
‘Pfftttt, no?’: Bryson’s bizarre clash with reporter over 3D-printed club after Masters disaster
Lowry delivers unreal Masters ace | 01:12
‘SEVEN GUYS HAVE A CHANCE’
While all Australian eyes are on Jason Day, a man who helped break the nation’s hearts 30 years ago said the final round is the most wide open in several years.
Rory McIlroy and Cameron Young will go head-to-head in the final pairing.
But they are only one shot clear of Sam Burns and Shane Lowry, who added to his illustrious list of hole-in-ones at iconic courses, is just two back.
Day is three back, alongside last year’s runner-up Justin Rose, while the world No.1 is daring to pull off a miracle after he charged 17 places up the leaderboard with a third round 65.
Three-time green jacket winner Sir Nick Faldo, who won when Greg Norman collapsed with a six-shot lead in 1996, believes it is a lot more than a two-horse race.
“I think Rory’s game is just a little inconsistent, as we saw today. If he can find the switch tonight and correct it, then he’s got a chance to do something special,” the Englishman said on Sky Sports.
“But I’ve got to look at Cam Young, the way he’s just stormed his way through the week after a bad start. He’s obviously got a lot of confidence from winning the players. There’s less negativity in his game.
“Maybe Shane. He’s got his best buddy. Wouldn’t he like to do something. J-Day has a shot, Rosey’s on a mission after last year.
“Scottie Scheffler, remember what he did at the Olympics when he was way out of it, so he’s a serious danger man.
“There are seven guys who genuinely have a chance to win tomorrow.”
As for McIlroy, Faldo stressed that he cannot keep playing the way he has been and win a second straight green jacket.
The Northern Irishman has been wayward off the tee, hitting just 50% of fairways for the tournament.
His approach play suffered as a result in the third round.
McIlroy hit only ten greens in regulation as his iron play also lapsed.
“Rory had an opportunity. If he shot three or four under, it would be over and done with, but we’ve still got all the excitement and drama stacked up for tomorrow,” Faldo said on Sky Sports.
“I don’t really know which way this is going to go.
“Rory cannot hit short irons as poorly tomorrow and get away with it, I wouldn’t have thought, because there are too many guys really breathing down his neck.
“You’ve got to think one or two of them are going to have a great score on Sunday.”
WORLD NO.2 V WORLD NO.3 SHOWDOWN
It is not as spicy a final pairing as Rory McIlroy’s battle with Bryson DeChambeau last year, but McIlroy’s upcoming clash with Cameron Young is one for the golf purists.
McIlroy and DeChambeau, who missed the cut this week, went head-to-head for a maiden green jacket with an array of sub plots hanging over them.
There was, of course, the PGA Tour v LIV Golf aspect.
While there was existing bad blood between the pair after McIlroy collapsed in the US Open the year prior, while DeChambeau claimed victory and later publicly taunted his rival about choking.
Off the back of that, the momentum appeared to be with the American.
He opted for a gladiatorial style entrance through the crowd to the first tee to establish a hostile atmosphere.
It backfired a few holes later as his game unravelled.
Once the rivalry was out of the equation, the back nine was purely about the golf.
That is what McIlroy versus Young promises.
“I think the stakes in terms of the pairing will be just a little bit easier and the atmosphere out there will be a little bit easier,” McIlroy said.
“I’m not worried about that at all. I wish I was a few shots better off, but I’m comfortable.
“I played with Cam the first two days, playing with him again tomorrow. I think it’s a comfortable group for both of us.”
The pair stand on opposite sides of the Ryder Cup divide, but Young is not a combative figure like DeChambeau.
He very rarely expresses any emotion on the golf course.
He was ridiculed for his lack of jubilation when he won The Players last month.
But Young does not try to be anything he is not.
He will attend church with his family in the morning before heading to the golf course.
Once he has driven down Magnolia Lane, all of his focus will be on each shot.
Until last year, Young was tarnished with the brush of not knowing how to win.
He registered Seven runner-up finishes before his breakthrough PGA Tour win at the Wyndham Championship last August.
That stretch of seconds including the 2022 Open where Australia’s Cameron Smith claimed victory at St Andrews when McIlroy had appeared destined to win.
History is now on Young’s side.
He could become the third consecutive player to win The Masters after conquering TPC Sawgrass a month prior – Scheffler and McIlroy did so the past two years.
The Ryder Cup player knows he has come along way, but will still be playing the role of party pooper if he prevails.
“I don’t get the sense that I’ll be the fan favourite,” Young said.
“But I feel like the support, the fans that cheer for me, has gotten louder over the last year.
“It will still be lopsided, I think, Rory’s kind of a world favourite.
“A year ago if I’d been in the same situation, there would have been very little.
“Now, there’ll be a little more so I can take what I can get and be happy with that.”
READ MORE
‘No. This isn’t some game’: Rory never spoke to Bryson… except for this epic Masters standoffShark’s infamous meltdown still makes Aussies sick. 30 years on, a simmering feud just turned ‘really nasty’
Rory’s $15k blowout and ‘liquid gold’ — What really happens at golf’s most exclusive club
SHARK COMPARISON SHUTDOWN
As Rory McIlroy shot 73 on Saturday, whispers and murmurs swept through the trees at Augusta National.
Until his Masters triumph last year, McIlroy was often compared to Greg Norman.
Like McIlroy, ‘The Shark’ was widely regarded as the player of his generation but routinely came up short at the majors.
The comparison was noted by many that McIlroy started the weekend with a six-shot lead.
The same number Norman started the final round with in 1996 before melting down with a 78.
When McIlroy hooked his second shot into the water at 11 and failed to get up-and-down at 12 to surrender his lead, the parallels began to be drawn.
It was a comparison that was popular during the time where McIlroy played the role of spokesman for the PGA Tour in the war of words that erupted when LIV Golf emerged with the Australian as CEO.
But understandably dropped away once the Northern Irishman got his green jacket.
The fact he wobbled in the third round should not be a reason for it to come back, according to former professional turned broadcaster Brandel Chamblee.
“Look, Greg won one of the four majors. He won it twice, but Rory’s won every single major championship,” Chamblee said on Live from The Masters.
“If you want to make comparisons to his up-and-down nature, you could be Mickelson, you could be Arnold Palmer, you could be Seve Ballesteros.
“I think those are more accurate comparisons.”
Chamblee continued: “This is why we marvel at Tiger Woods.
“It is the rarest of athlete that comes in and can be the exact same person when he’s built a significant lead.
“Ben Hogan tied for the lead, 1952, here, shot 79 on Sunday.
“He had a three-shot lead, 1954, lost it.
“Tom Watson had a five-shot lead at the PGA Championship, 1978, lost it.
“You pick a player. Tiger Woods had a two-shot lead 2009 at the PGA, lost it.
“You pick a player here. Ed Sneed had the big lead, lost it.
“Seve Ballesteros had a ten-shot lead with nine to go, three holes later he had a three-shot lead.
“Pick a player and they have always struggled except Tiger Woods.
“What we saw today from Rory was consistent with what we saw when he first burst onto the scene in 2010.”
‘PLAYERS HATE IT’: AUSSIES’ INTERSTING ADMISSION
While many patrons and viewers were in awe of the birdie fest that ensued in the third round as the chasing pack reeled in Rory McIlroy, some were outraged with what they were seeing.
After the first round, Shane Lowry said we might be in for the hardest Masters in recent memory.
Jason Day said the winning number was probably going to be in the single digits.
But in the two days since, there have been three 65s shot.
Three players are already in double digits under par with a round to play.
The third round scoring average of 70.63 was the lowest in history.
The nature of the tournament clearly changed.
“I think it’s a little too soft,” former European Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley said on Live from The Masters.
Warm and dry weather was tipped to cause carnage as the greens got firmer and faster.
But the hosing of the putting surfaces by the ground staff has allowed the world’s best to go birdie hunting.
Day was pleased to see the change, saying the difference to typical Augusta weekend conditions was fair, but he enjoyed it as he shot 68.
“Typically sometimes you get to, you know, Saturday at Augusta and they’re bouncing,” Day said.
“It’s really difficult to hold some shots. So I thought the green speeds were lovely. I thought the green firmness was great. It was very fair, and I think that’s why you’re seeing a lot of, like, decent scores out there, which brings in a lot of the crowd, which is great.”
While world No.1 Scottie Scheffler said that the finish to the tournament was in the hands of tournament organisers.
He even joked that the could replicate the Arnold Palmer Invitational, one of the trickiest stops on the PGA Tour.
“It depends on what the leadership here wants to do,” Scheffler said.
“If they want to see some lower scores, they can make them softer if they want. I mean, they’re already pretty firm, so they can just go full Bay Hill and just let them die. It’s Augusta. They’ll figure it out after that.”
Augusta National has also made significant changes to its course in recent times to combat the added length off the tee of the modern players.
Those moves have been a point of contention with three-time champion Phil Mickelson, who missed this year’s event for family reasons, taking to social media to express his disappointment with the two back nine par 5s.
Australia’s Adam Scott was asked about Phil Mickelson’s comments.
He admitted that the 15th, in particular, makes for great entertainment while giving players nightmares.
“Well, this year 13 is trickier, for sure, to go for because you’re just standing back further really on a big side slope, and you’re weighing up. Like a lot of holes here, it’s a huge risk. Big reward; huge risk. There are a lot of them on a lot of holes here,” Scott said.
“15 has been in the go zone, but the green is firm. So it’s just stress, but you don’t want to lay up, because then you’ve got to wedge in there with a hard green. So it’s just a hard hole, but it’s certainly in the go zone.
“But the greens are firm this year, and that’s because of the weather really.”
He added: “I’m sure the fans love it. The players hate it, but I’m sure the fans love it.
“I think there were three 9s on Thursday on that hole. I don’t know any other par-5 like it, to be perfectly honest. Yeah, I think it’s great.”