2025 Masters day three: Live scores and updates from Augusta National

Just two strokes separate course leaders Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau going into the final round at Augusta, with the Northern Irishman gunning for a spot in golf’s most elite club.

Only golf’s long-bombing “mad scientist” stands between Rory McIlroy and sporting immortality.

McIlroy, 35, seeking his first green jacket at Augusta – and entry into golf’s grand slam club – will face off against American LIV star Bryson DeChambeau in the final round of the Masters.

It was DeChambeau, 31, who took down McIlroy at last year’s US Open at Pinehurst, continuing the Northern Irishman’s 11-year run of major championship misery.

How to watch the Masters in Australia?For the first time, the only place to watch the Masters live is Fox Sports, available on Kayo Sports and Foxtel.

“It’s going to be a little rowdy and a little loud,” McIlroy said.

“I’m just going to have to settle in and really try to keep myself in my own little bubble.”

The job is far from done, but many are convinced it’s golf whisperer and sports psychologist Dr Bob Rotella who has unlocked the mystery of McIlroy.

Rory’s won everything there is to be won since his last major in 2014, except for what matters.

A victory at Augusta will elevate McIlroy into greatness as a winner of all four golf majors. Only five players have ever achieved it.

In 2011, aged just 21, McIlroy famously capitulated at the Masters after holding a four-shot lead going into the final round, carding an eight-over 80.

The meltdown is best remembered by a haunting image of a fresh-faced McIlroy anxiously searching for his ball between the white cabins and Georgia Pines, barely 100m to the left of the 10th tee.

He’s since finished second (in 2022) and threatened to break through on other occasions, but failed every time.

In the lead up to the Masters, McIlroy talked openly about his sessions with Rotella.

“We talk about trying to chase a feeling on the golf course,” he said.

“If I can chase that feeling and make that the important thing, then hopefully the golf will take care of itself.”

McIlroy made two eagles and four birdies in his third-round 66 to take a two-shot lead into Sunday.

DeChambeau, a social media megastar who uses clubs with fat grips which are all the same length, said he had been desperate for a Sunday duel with McIlroy.

“Those last few holes, I just kept thinking to myself, ‘Get in the final pairing. Execute those shots the best you can,’” DeChambeau said.

“I made a beautiful putt to finish it off and that was cool.”

Canadian Corey Conners sits four shots behind McIlroy at eight-under.

Swedish sensation Ludvig Aberg and Patrick Reed (six-under) are also lurking.

Australia’s Jason Day is seven shots back of McIlroy but still daring to dream.

“I feel like if he (McIlroy) can come back to us a little bit … you just never know what potentially could happen,” Day said after a third-round 71.

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McIlroy and DeChambeau set up blockbuster final round

- AFP

Rory McIlroy charged to the Masters lead with a historic start to Saturday’s third round, then held on through Augusta National’s back nine to stand two clear atop the leaderboard heading into the final round.

McIlroy had two eagles and four birdies in a six-under-par 66 and with a 12-under total of 204 was poised to strike Sunday for a long coveted green jacket that would see him become just the sixth man to complete a career Grand Slam.

McIlroy’s first eagle of the day was at the par-five second, part of six straight threes to open his round -- a first in Masters history.

His second eagle at the par-five 15th, where he stuck his approach six feet from the pin, was the first of the day there and pushed his lead back to four strokes after it had dwindled to one thanks to bogeys at the eighth and 10th.

He’ll play in the final group on Sunday with US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, who birdied three of the last four holes for a three-under 69 and a 10-under total of 206.

Canadian Corey Conners was alone in third after a two-under-par 70 for 208 -- two strokes clear of former Masters champion Patrick Reed and last year’s runner-up Ludvig Aberg.

McIlroy, who started the day two strokes behind overnight leader Justin Rose, needed just two holes to catapult himself past Rose and DeChambeau, who had tied Rose at eight-under with a birdie at the first.

Rose and DeChambeau were just finishing up on the first green when McIlroy chipped in from 18 yards out at the second.

He had taken advantage of a monster drive at the first, where he rolled in a 10-foot putt to secure a birdie McIlroy kept the magic flowing with a seven-foot birdie putt at the third. After a two-putt par at the par-three fourth, he drilled an 18-foot birdie putt at the par-four fifth, then two-putted for par at the par-three sixth.

Rory McIlroy takes a two-stroke lead into the final day. Picture: Kieran Cleeves/Augusta National/Getty Images

The run of threes on his scorecard ended at the par-four seventh, where he was deep in the trees off the tee and muscled a mighty second shot 152 yards to the left of the green, from where he got up and down for par.

“A dream start,” McIlroy said, adding that he was just trying to keep it going. He led by as many as four before his first bogey of the day at the par-five eighth -- where his tee shot landed in the face of a fairway bunker.

It was McIlroy’s first dropped shot since a double bogey on 17 on Thursday and he dropped another at the 10th before regaining the momentum with a birdie at 13.

“The course got pretty tricky toward the end,” McIlroy said. “(There was) a bit of a wobble around the turn, but I played a great, solid back nine.”

McIlroy’s blistering start had eclipsed a strong opening for DeChambeau, who rolled in a 35-foot birdie putt at the first and two-putted for birdie at the second but still found himself trailing.

Even for the day through 14 holes, DeChambeau started his late push with a five-foot birdie at the 15th. He drilled a birdie putt at the par-three 16th and then drained a near 50-foot putt from the fringe at the last.

Bryson DeChambeau shot three birdies across his final four holes. Picture: Michael Reaves/ Getty Images

“That’s what dreams are made of right there,” DeChambeau said. “Two behind -- couldn’t ask for more.”

Conners, playing alongside McIlroy, had some trouble getting going as McIlroy was burning up the front nine.

One-over through nine afer a birdie and two bogeys, Conners launched a run of three straight birdies with a 15-footer at the eighth. He rolled in a seven-foot birdie at the ninth and tapped in for birdie at 10, then parred his way home to put himself in the hunt for a first major title.

It was a disappointing day for Rose, who battled to a three-over-par 75 that left him seven strokes back, tied with defending champion Scottie Scheffler, Jason Day and Shane Lowry.

Scheffler had to grind to an even-par 72 that featured two birdies and two bogeys.

“At times I felt good, at times I felt bad,” said Scheffler, who came into the week hoping to join Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods as the only back-to-back Masters winners.

“I just couldn’t really get anything going. I think I ended up with even, which felt like I had to scramble a lot today, actually.”

Originally published as 2025 Masters day three: Live scores and updates from Augusta National