Smith surges back into Masters contention
Cameron Smith has set himself up for a shot at Masters glory with a supreme third round at Augusta National.
Smith fired a steely four-under-par 68 in windy and chilly conditions to slash Scottie Scheffler's half-way lead to three shots and secure an all-important place in Sunday's final group with the world No.1.
Scheffler's 71 -- including a dramatic bogey on the last after the American found the trees off the tee and needed to take an unplayable penalty stroke -- left him at nine under for the tournament.
Smith at six under and Korean Sungjae Im (71) at four under appear the only two challengers within striking distance of Scheffler.
Twenty six of the past 31 champions at Augusta have played in the final pairing down the stretch, setting the scene for an enthralling Sunday shootout between Scheffler, the WGC Match Play winner last month, and Smith, the newly-crowned Players champion.
Rebounding from a disappointing second-round 74, Smith birdied the second, sixth and eighth holes to reach the turn in five under on moving day at the Masters.
But with Scheffler surging to 11 under with four birdies of his own, Smith still trailed the American by six strokes heading into the homeward nine.
Picking up more shots on 10, 13 and 15, Smith cut the deficit to three before making bogey on the par-3 16th after finding the bunker off the tee and failing to get up and down.
Scheffler, though, made successive bogeys on 14, 15 and then 18 to open the door for Smith to join 2013 winner Adam Scott as only the second Australian in 86 Masters to claim a famous green jacket.
Ireland's Shane Lowry and South African Charl Schwartzel both carded 73s to be two under and sharing fourth spot, seven shots adrift of Scheffler.
American Justin Thomas and Canadian Corey Conners are the only other players in red numbers at one under after even par rounds of 72.
Smith's countryman Marc Leishman was among only nine players to shoot under the card on Saturday.
A one-under 71 propelled Leishman into a share of 18th spot at three over.
"It was tough, cold," Leishman said.
"The greens quickened up overnight back to, I would say, Masters speed.
"I happened to play good, (had) a couple of three-putts, but putting was pretty difficult out there with the wind.
"I'm a lot happier today standing here than I was the last two afternoons after missing a lot of putts."
Min Woo Lee is one stroke further back after an even-par 72 in equal 26th on debut.
"It was a bit of a shock obviously. Weather hasn't been this cold and then all off sudden to turns into a Scottish type of weather," Lee said.
"It took us by a bit of surprise, but it actually kind of helped because on a normal day the ball is going further because you're jacked up.
"Then with the coldness it kind of evened out. I'm happy that I can put my feet up now and have some lunch and chill out."
Fellow Masters rookie Cam Davis slumped to 11 over after a 79, while Scott's horror 80 -- his worst score in 70 rounds at Augusta since 2004 -- left the former champion at 12 over and last among the 52 players who made the half-way cut.
