The third round of the 2013 Masters is underway and while the leaders won’t tee off for a couple of hours, a few players are attempting to play their way into contention.
Masters leaderboard: Bubba Watson, Phil Mickelson, Tianlang Guan on the course early
The morning groups are back on the course and Bubba Watson is among the players moving up the leaderboard.
Defending Masters champion Bubba Watson was the first player off the tee on Saturday and after a scorching start, he’s struggled on the back nine. Watson opened the day at 4-over, but began the round with three straight birdies. He made the turn at 1-over overall and a birdie on No. 10 got him back to even par. He gave two of those strokes back with a double bogey on No. 11. A bogey on No. 13 moved him to 3-over for the tournament. Watson rebounded well, however, with back-to-back birdies at No. 15 and No. 16. He’s 3-under through 16 and 1-over for the tournament.
As he was in the first two rounds, Phil Mickelson has been up-and-down on Saturday. Mickelson has three bogeys, two birdies and four pars on the front nine. He is 1-over on the day, moving him to 4-over for the tournament. Mickelson is seven strokes behind the leader and barring a run on the back nine, he will likely find himself out of contention on Sunday.
Tianlang Guan was one of the stories during the first two round and after making the cut, Guan continues to impress. The 14-year-old opened his third round with three straight pars before dropping a stroke with a bogey on No. 4. He parred the next four holes with a bogey on No. 9 closing out his front nine. Guan is 2-over through 10 holes on Saturday, putting him 6-over for the tournament.
Tim Clark has made the biggest move of the third round as he’s played his way up to a tie for seventh place. Clark began the day 2-over, but birdied five of his first seven holes to shoot up the leaderboard. Clark struggled on the back nine on Friday, but if he can avoid similar issues, he may post a number low enough to threaten the leaders.
Here is a quick look at the top of the leaderboard and a few notable names.
| Score | Player | Thru |
| -6 | Jason Day | 2:45 |
| -5 | Marc Leishman | 2:35 |
| -5 | Fred Couples | 2:45 |
| -3 | Justin Rose | 1:55 |
| -2 | Rory McIlroy | 1:25 |
| -1 | Tiger Woods | 1:45 |
| 1 | Bubba Watson | 17 |
| 4 | Phil Mickelson | 10 |
| 7 | Tianlang Guan | 12 |
More Masters from SB Nation:
See More:
