Several contenders climbed up the Masters Tournament leaderboard on moving day at Augusta National Golf Club.
It was Jason Dufner they were moving past.
The 35-year-old started the day with a share of the 36-hole lead after rounds of 69 and 70. He’ll be chasing the leaders Sunday after a third-round 75.
The frustrating performance came in the full Augusta spotlight. Dufner was in the final pairing with 1992 Masters champion Fred Couples, and the large crowds and television cameras caught every misstep. He claimed the outright lead with a birdie at the par-5 second to move to 6-under, but immediately fell back with bogeys at the par-3 fourth and sixth holes.
Dufner bogeyed 10 after trouble off the tee but got the stroke back with a 20-foot birdie putt on 12. His round crumbled at the finish with bogeys at 17 and 18, and he walked away without speaking to the media.
“We both semistruggled,” Couples said. “When you shoot 75 it’s just not ever good, to be perfectly honest.”
Though Dufner has yet to win a PGA Tour event, he does have experience in pressure situations. He held a share of the 36- and 54-hole leads at the PGA Championship last August but lost in a playoff. He also led after one round earlier this year in Phoenix before finishing tied for eighth.
The lead Dufner built up Thursday and Friday is lost. Forty golfers posted better rounds Saturday, and he’ll enter the final round tied for 11th at 2-under par, seven strokes off the lead.
Dufner struggled around the green. He putted 34 times Saturday – just three of 62 golfers fared worse – and three-putted twice.
Couples will again join Dufner on the tee today when the two go off for their final round at 1:20.
