2026 Masters, Round 3 recap: Young ties McIlroy as six-shot lead vanishes

Oddsmakers can help pinpoint a favorite when margins are thin, like they are at Augusta entering Sunday’s final round.

While Rory McIlroy enters with a Masters win in pocket, Cameron Young carries a considerable amount of momentum.

DraftKings has listed the favorites and they can be viewed here.

Rory remains the favorite but Young has cut into that number considerably over the last 24 hours.

Sam Burns enters the final round of the 2026 Masters in solo third place after a bogey-free third round at Augusta.

Burns trails Rory McIlroy and Cameron Young by a shot at 10 under the tournament.

“I can’t control anything Rory does, I can’t control anyone else around me does,” Burns told Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis.

“Control what we can control — our attitude, our emotions,” Burns said when asked how he could pull off the come-from-behind win.

Rory McIlroy and Sam Burns have one more hole left before the third round at Augusta National concludes.

Each player has had an up-and-down second nine, highlighted by McIlroy losing the lead for 30 minutes before regaining it.

He sits tied with Cameron Young at 11 under with the par-4 18th hole left to play.

Burns is T-3, a shot off the lead.

Collin Morikawa called his opening 74 at the Masters, the “toughest round” he’s ever played and his bounce-back performances of 69-68 “one of the best tournaments in my entire career.”

If that sounds a bit hyperbolic coming from the world’s seventh-ranked player and two-time major champion, a little background is required.

Morikawa withdrew from last month’s Players Championship after just one hole with a back injury he sustained while taking a practice swing.

Collin Morikawa on bounce-back Masters play: ‘Some of the best golf I’ve played’

Collin Morikawa called his opening 74 at the Masters the “toughest round” he’s ever played and his bounce-back performances of 69-68 “one of the best tournaments in my entire career.”

• Rex Hoggard,

• Rex Hoggard,

The physical toll of that injury was still evident Saturday, as he gingerly made his way up the hill from the 18th green following his third-round 68. But it’s the mental toll that has been the real struggle.

“It’s phenomenal,” he said when asked where his performance at Augusta National ranked. “It’s going to be in its own category, but it’s some of the best golf I’ve played, because it is truly putting a mental test into me from the start. Not even from the start of hole one, but from the start of the day when I wake up to just make sure I’m doing the right steps to make sure I can tee it up on the first hole and then get all the way through today.”

Morikawa said he’d hoped to be able to swing at about 60 percent by this time, but “truly netted out at 50 percent” and that the challenge is being able to trust his body under pressure.

Tiger Woods is a safe answer to any trivia question related to the Masters.

And when it comes to worst opening-round position for a player who went on to win at Augusta, Tiger holds the key.

The five-time Masters champ sat T-33 in 2005 after 18 holes. He would go on to win that tournament.

Cameron Young, who sits a shot off leader Rory McIlroy, was T-33 after posting a 1-over 73 on Thursday.

Has Rory McIlroy only played 15 holes today? It looks like more than 30.

The 2025 Masters winner has had an up-and-down Saturday with water balls and shots into the rough.

Despite all the mistakes, McIlroy has regained the lead after back-to-back birdies on No. 14 and No. 15.

McIlroy, who once led by six shots, is trying to hold off Cameron Young and Sam Burns to win his second green jacket and become the fourth repeat champion in Masters history.

Cameron Young was in Butler Cabin with Jim Nantz for the first time in his career on Saturday afternoon.

He talked about his 7-under 65 on Saturday and his mindset heading into the final round at Augusta.

“No lead is safe here,” Young told Nantz.

Young entered the day eight shots off the lead. He currently shares it with 2025 Masters winner, Rory McIlroy.

As far as clubhouse standings are concerned, Jason Day is three shots off leader Cameron Young.

Day finished with a 4-under 68 on his third round on Saturday.

He’s currently T-5 and three shots off co-leaders Young and Rory McIlroy.

Rory McIlroy made a lengthy birdie putt on No. 14 to tie Cameron Young at the top of the Masters leaderboard.

Young is in the clubhouse at 11 under.

McIlroy held a six-shot advantage entering the day but double bogeyed the par-4 11th hole and followed that with a bogey on No. 12.

The 2025 Masters champion has yet to hit the fairway on a par-5 this week at Augusta.

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Cameron Young is in the clubhouse with the lead after posting a third round 7-under 65.

The score matches the low number posted by Rory McIlroy on Friday as well as Scottie Scheffler earlier in the day.

McIlroy has several holes left and trails Young by a stoke.

Young entered the day with an eight-hole deficit and at +2700 odds to win the tournament.

Things are heating up at Auguta.

Rory McIlroy, who once held a six-shot lead, is tied for second with Sam Burns at 10 under.

Burns’ birdie putt on the par-5 13th hole sent him up the leaderboard.

He opened the day at 6 under after 36 holes.

Cameron Young is the outright leader at the 2026 Masters.

Rory McIlroy’s six-shot lead has vanished after a double bogey on No. 11 and a bogey on No. 12.

McIlroy is two over on the third round, while Young is seven under with two holes to play.

Cameron Young has tied Rory McIlroy on the 2026 Masters leaderboard.

Young’s long putt on No. 16 hooked in to tie the lead at 11 under.

He was eight shots back of McIlroy to start the day and a +2700 longshot to win the tournament.

McIlroy, who has been fighting off competition throughout the third round, has officially seen his six-shot lead disappear.

Rory McIlroy is learning that no lead is safe at Augusta.

The 2025 Masters winner opened his second nine with a birdie only to double bogey on the par-4 11th hole.

McIlroy holds a one shot lead over Cameron Young. He opened the day with a six-shot lead over Young and the rest of the field.

Haotong Li’s errant second shot on the par-5 15th hole drew an immediate reaction from Jim Nantz.

“What in the world was that?!” Nantz asked on the broadcast as Li’s ball bounced into the water.

Li is currently two shots off the lead and T-3 but that status is in immediate jeopardy.

Moments after Cameron Young went for a drink on the 15th hole, Rory McIlroy’s third shot on No. 11 rolled into the water.

McIlroy elected to take his fourth shot from a drop zone across the pond.

He currently holds a three-shot lead over Young.

Cameron Young has hit trouble on the par-5 15th hole at Augusta.

Young’s fourth shot from 112 yards out trickled into the water. He opted to replay it for his fifth shot vs. taking the next shot out of a drop zone.

Young is set to bogey the hole. If he does, Rory McIlroy’s lead will go back to three shots.

Rory McIlroy’s first birdie in more than hour at Augusta came at the right time.

As Cameron Young cut the 2025 Masters champ’s lead to one shot moments earlier, McIlroy birdied on the par-4 10th hole.

McIlroy is 13 under on the tournament and regained a two-shot lead on Young and the rest of the field.

Back-to-back birdies for Cameron Young has moved the 2026 Players Championship winner to just a shot off the lead at Augusta.

Rory McIlroy’s once six-shot lead has been cut down significantly on Saturday. McIlroy finished his first nine at even par, with a bogey on the first hole and a birdie on No. 3.

Young, who was 4 over through seven holes during Thursday’s first round, has yet to bogey and is 7 under on the round.

He was +2700 to win the tournament as of Friday night,

McIlroy came into Saturday with a historic six-shot lead, but the rest of the field was determined to trim it.

After bogeying the first hole, he bounced back with a birdie on No. 3 and shot par for the remainder of the first nine.

He currently has a two-shot lead halfway through the third round.

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Scottie Scheffler was a man on a mission during his third round on Saturday and shot 7-under 65.
5🐦
1🦅

The 39-year Irishman aced the par-3 6th hole at Augusta during his Masters third round on Saturday. It was Lowry’s second hole-in-one at the Masters. His first one came exactly a decade ago at Augusta’s famed 16th hole.

Shane Lowry makes second career Masters hole-in-one in Round 3

Is anyone better on Tour than Shane Lowry at getting a hole-in-one? The Irishman recorded an ace on the par-3 sixth hole at Augusta. It’s his fifth career hole-in-one on Tour.

• Steve Coulter,

• Steve Coulter,

Recovered from illness, Haotong Li is full steam ahead...after an eagle on No. 8, he’s in solo second, within 3 strokes of Rory.

Non-stop action during the third round as Morikawa holes out for a beautiful eagle on No. 15⛳

Shane Lowry hit a hole-in-one on No. 6, the second of his career at the Masters!

He’s now tied for 2nd.

Take a bow, Shane!

Rory gets his first birdie of the day on No. 3, leads Reed by 3 strokes

🦅for Clark after he ripped it off the tee on No. 3!

Patrick Reed birdied No. 1 to cut Rory’s lead to four strokes...Rory bogeyed the first hole.

He makes his sixth birdie of the day at the par-4 11th to reach 6 under. We now have world No. 2 leading, with world No. 1 and world No. 3 tied for second (though, six back). World No. 4 (Tommy Fleetwood) is at 5 under.

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The Players Champ chips in at the par-3 fourth for back-to-back birdies. He’s at 6 under and tied for second.

Patrick Reed and Justin Rose now driving on the par-4 first.

Until the final pairing of Rory McIlroy and Sam Burns hit the first tee.

The birdie means a first-nine 31 to reach 5 under. He’s now tied for fourth. It’s Scheffler’s lowest first-nine score at Augusta National.

Scheffler (2022, ’24 winner) is 4 under though 8 holes and 4 under for the tournament. Matsuyama (2021) has birdied Nos. 3-5 to reach 5 under.

Alex Noren shot 69 to get to get to 1 over. Kurt Kitayama, who opened in 69, followed his second-round 79 with a 75. He’s at 7 over.

The two-time Masters champion hit a beautiful 7-wood into the par-5 second — from 265 yards to 6 feet — and made eagle to reach 2 under for the tournament.

Brian Harman is 3 under through eight holes. He’s one of only a handful of players under par in Round 3 — but still 1 over for the tournament.