Masters turns into duel

Rory McIlroy’s runaway Masters turned into a two-man race Saturday when Cameron Young erased an eight-shot gap and pulled even heading into Sunday. (golfchannel.com) McIlroy began the third round at Augusta National with a record six-shot 36-hole lead, then shot 1-over 73 and finished 54 holes at 11-under 205. Young started the day eight back, fired 7-under 65 with eight birdies and one bogey, and joined him at the top. (pgatour.com) Sam Burns moved into solo third at 10-under after a bogey-free 68, one shot behind the co-leaders. Jason Day was three back, and Scottie Scheffler stayed in range after the world No. 1 posted 68. (golfchannel.com) The Sunday setup is now simple: McIlroy and Young are the final pairing at 2:25 p.m. Eastern, with Burns and Shane Lowry one group ahead at 2:14 p.m. Eastern. Augusta’s final round starts with a leaderboard compressed enough that one swing on the back nine can reorder the tournament. (pgatour.com) For McIlroy, the stakes reach beyond one Sunday round. He is the defending champion, and his six-shot edge after 36 holes was the largest in Masters history before it disappeared in one afternoon. (pgatour.com) For Young, Sunday is a chance to win his first major after years of close calls without a PGA Tour victory. His 65 matched the low round of the tournament and came on a day when Augusta played to a third-round scoring average of 70.63, the lowest ever for that round at the Masters. (pgatour.com) The reversal happened across a chaotic back nine. McIlroy drove into the pines, found water, and watched his cushion vanish, while Young kept making birdies and briefly grabbed the lead alone before the two finished tied. (espn.com) That leaves Augusta with the pairing the tournament did not seem to need 24 hours earlier: the defending champion trying to steady himself, and the hard-charging challenger beside him for every shot that matters. (espn.com)