Johannesburg : Defending champion Jordan Spieth continued his dominant performance as he comfortably outclassed Rory McIlroy to maintain his lead after the third round of the Augusta Masters.
Spieth, who began his day with a one-stroke lead over the Northern Irishman, finished five clear of his rival as McIlroy’s hopes of winning a career Grand Slam were severely dented, Sport24 reported.
The 22-year-old American fired at 73 to finish the day on three-under par 213 as Spieth continued his one-stroke lead over American debutant Smylie Kaufman, who finished at 214 ahead of Asia’s top player, Hideki Matsuyama, and German veteran Bernhard Langer.
Spieth, who is aiming to become only the fourth golfer to win back-to-back masters, will join the list of stalwarts featuring Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Nick Faldo to win the Masters for a second consecutive year.
Meanwhile, world number one Jason Day remained in contention after a hard-fought 71 to stay at level par while ace Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri finished the third round at a total of 224. (ANI)