AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Justin Rose put himself in position to finally win the Masters on Sunday when his improbable shot from the trees on the seventh hole began a run of three straight birdies to give him the lead going to the back nine at Augusta National.
It already was shaping up to be a dynamic finish in golf's greatest theater, with six players separated by three shots and already some wild swings in momentum.
Rose was at 12-under par at the turn,
one shot ahead of Rory McIlroy, who recovered from a double bogey on the par-3 fourth when he three-putted from inside 10 feet.
Cameron Young had a two-shot lead through five holes until he missed a 4-foot par putt on the sixth, hit into a bunker with a wedge from the fairway on the seventh and had to scramble for a bogey on the nine. He was two behind, along with Tyrrell Hatton, who was running out of holes.
Scottie Scheffler, the world's No. 1 player going for his third Masters title in five years, was not out of the mix just yet. He was within two shots of the lead early on the front nine, but he made nine straight pars as he headed to the 13th hole.
Rose was in trouble in the trees right of the seventh fairway when he blasted off the pine needles to the left side of the green with enough side spin that it caught a ridge and rolled — and rolled — until it stopped a foot from the hole for birdie.
He hit a nifty pitch from short of the par-5 eighth for birdie and closed out the front nine by making a 15-foot birdie putt.
Rose led by as many as two shots until McIlroy and Young made birdie on No. 8. McIlroy and Young started the final round tied at 11-under 205.
Rose is twice a playoff loser at the Masters, to Sergio Garcia in 2017 and last year to McIlroy. He also was a runner-up to Jordan Spieth by four shots in 2015. A victory would make the 45-year-old from England the second-oldest winner behind Jack Nicklaus (46) in 1986.
McIlroy is trying to become the fourth player to win twice in a row and the first since Tiger Woods in 2001-02. Young is going after his first major championship and trying to follow in the footsteps of fellow Wake Forest alum Arnold Palmer, a four-time Masters champion.
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