AUGUSTA, Ga. – In the Netflix show, “Full Swing,” Brooks Koepka shows off the four major championship trophies he’s won along with crystal for being World No. 1 in his trophy case.
“But I only put the big ones up there just to remind myself that’s there’s plenty more big ones to win,” Koepka said.
He admitted that he had the center of the display reserved for a particular trophy.
“Augusta is right in the center,” he said. “Just saying, that’s it.”
Koepka is 18 holes away from slipping into a green jacket and filling the hole in his trophy cabinet. It took two days to do so but the 32-year-old Koepka posted a 1-over 73 at Augusta National Golf Club on Sunday morning for a 54-hole total of 11-under 205 and maintained his two-stroke lead over Spain’s Jon Rahm.
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In bone-chilling cold and steady rain, Koepka made a birdie at the second and five pars on Saturday afternoon before play was called for the day at the Monsoon Masters. Koepka, who began Sunday’s resumption of the third round at 8:30 a.m. at 13 under, held a four-stroke lead over Rahm when play resumed but that figure got sliced in half as Rahm made birdie at seven and Koepka made bogey. Both Koepka and Rahm made birdie at eight and Rahm cut the deficit to one when Koepka bogeyed No. 12. But then Rahm, who carded 73 in the third round, backtracked with a 3-putt bogey at 13 and a poor iron right of the 16th green that dropped him back to 9-under 207. Koepka took three putts at 17, the first time he’d done so at the tournament to drop to 11 under. The third round was completed at 11:49 a.m.
Viktor Hovland is the only other player less than five strokes from the lead. The Norwegian chipped in for birdie at 12, the second of five straight birdies on the second nine that kept him in the Green Jacket hunt. He signed for 2-under 70 and a 54-hole total of 8-under 208.
5th straight birdie for Viktor Hovland.
Only 6 players in the history of #TheMasters have made 6+ in a row. Record is 7, by Tiger Woods in 2005 and Steve Pate in 1999.
— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) April 9, 2023
“Definitely coming in with some momentum off of that back nine. That was really nice,” Hovland said. “We’ve still got a lot of work ahead. I need to post a really good number later this afternoon.”
Patrick Cantlay hit a gem of a 7-iron at 16 to set up a short birdie and posted 68 to improve to 6-under 210 and is alone in fourth place. Don’t count him out just yet.
“I think I’m close,” Cantlay said. “It depends how they finish up this round and obviously how they play on Sunday. It’s definitely a two-man race at this point. But I’ll do my best to post as low a round as I can.”
The rain halted but cool temperatures remained and the wind picked up on Sunday morning. Hovland wore a stocking cap and Matthew Fitzpatrick slipped on oversized mittens between shots.
“Today was colder, definitely windier, wind was moving around a little bit on the back, so definitely tricky, but as long as I don’t have to deal with an umbrella, I’ll take that,” said Georgia native Russell Henley, who shared fifth at 5-under 211 with Hideki Matsuyama.
Tiger Woods withdrew before the resumption of the third round, citing injury. He tweeted that he had re-aggravated his plantar fasciitis. Woods was in last among those who made the cut at 9 over for the tournament and 6 over on the round through seven holes after starting on No. 10. It marked the second time in his last three major championship appearances that he was forced to withdraw due to injury.
Sam Bennett tied the second-lowest 54-hole score by an amateur in tournament history (4-under 212) and at T-7 is the first amateur in the top 10 after three rounds of the Masters since Deane Beman in 1964.
Koepka, who won LIV Golf Orlando last week, is seeking his fifth major championship. Only 20 men have achieved five or more major wins.
“The whole goal is to win the Grand Slam, right,” he said on Friday. “I feel like all the greats have won here and they have all won the British Opens as well. Look, I guess it’s one more box for me to tick to truly feel like I’ve done what I should have accomplished in this game.”
Brooks Koepka is 3-for-3 in his career converting 54-hole leads/co-leads into wins in major championships.
Since the first Masters in 1934, only 3 players have successfully converted their first four 54-hole leads/co-leads in majors: Peter Thomson, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.
— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) April 9, 2023
But Koepka knows that there is work still to be done to convert 54-hole leader into 72-hole champion and some of the best players in the world hot on his tail.
“It’s going to be an interesting afternoon. If the wind keeps blowing and keeps swirling like this down there, anything can happen,” he said. “You’ve just got to be in control of your ball.”
The total purse this year is $18 million, with $3.24 million going to the winner of the green jacket.
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