Masters 2016 leaderboard: Jordan Spieth leads at 3-under heading into Sunday’s final round

There is no bigger day in golf than Sunday at the Masters and for the third straight year, Jordan Spieth has taken up residence at the top of the Augusta leaderboard.

Spieth has figured out Augusta better than you could expect any 22-year-old to do. He’s played in three Masters and is now in the final Sunday group for the third straight year. In 2015, Spieth strolled to the first tee with a comfortable four-shot lead, all the tools in his game working, and a nice Sunday cruise to the green jacket ahead of him. This Sunday presents a different set of circumstances for the defending champion.

Spieth will begin with a narrow one-shot lead and with a horrible taste in his mouth from the finish on Saturday night. Spieth stood on the 17th tee with that four-shot lead again in his pocket, then proceeded to throw three shots away over his final two holes. It left him saying he needed to “break something” when he walked away from Augusta on Saturday night.

The late giveaway brought a huge swath of players back into it with 18 more holes to go. Spieth is not playing as well as he did in last year’s runaway. His driving is all over the place, his irons on Saturday were not as crisp, and his short game and putter are saving him. After the round he said as much, “I can’t rely on my putter so much like I did today and that leaves me a little uneasy compared to last year.” He knows how to strategize and work his way around this course better than just about anyone in the field, but this is a different challenge from last year.

The conditions on Sunday should also be favorable for a chaser. Uncharacteristically high winds have hammered Augusta the last three days, making rounds in the 60s almost impossible. Those winds have relented on Sunday, a day when the green jackets already prefer to set up an easier course. They want birdies and leaderboard movement. They want Sunday excitement and dramatic charges from down the leaderboard. The talent chasing Spieth is more than capable, too, with bombers like Jason Day, Dustin Johnson and Hideki Matsuyama among the names within striking distance.

It would not be surprising to see one of those players post a mid-60s round and really put the pressure on Spieth to play more aggressive. The late Saturday stumble completely changed his approach to this final round, which will make it all the more exciting to watch. Here’s where things stand with 18 more to go at Augusta: