Day hoping Sunday will be his day at Masters

Jason Day has grinded for three days at the Masters Tournament.

Now, the No. 1 player in the world has given himself a chance to win a green jacket.

After posting his low round of the tournament Saturday – 1-under-par 71 – Day climbed to within three shots of leader Jordan Spieth.

Through three rounds, Day is tied for fifth with an even-par 216 total.

“The last three days have been really tough, as you know,” said Day, referring to the windy conditions. “That’s what I’ve been trying to do for the most part, just trying to stay patient. It’s always hard to have the lead at a major championship with these conditions, to keep pressing forward.

“So I just kept on saying to myself, just keep grinding out, just keep trying to get your birdies when you can, minimize mistakes, and just be patient with yourself. And today I was very happy with it.”

Day is looking for his third-consecutive victory and second major championship in a row. The 28-year-old native of Australia, who won the 2015 PGA Championship, took home the Arnold Palmer Invitational title last month before claiming the World Golf Championships-Dell Match Play two weeks ago.

Entering the Masters as the odds-on favorite, Day got off to a slow start with rounds of 72-73. He opened the third round with a bogey but got back on track with birdies at Nos. 2 and 9.

Despite failing to get up and down from the bunker at No. 12, Day rolled in a 15-foot birdie putt at the par-5 13th and followed by draining a 69-foot birdie putt at No. 14 to move to 1-under for the tournament.

Shortly after Day rolled in his bomb, playing partner Bernhard Langer chipped in for birdie.

“It was pretty cool, because obviously he gave me knuckles on the way up,” Day said. “He was going back and forth between hitting a putter and a chip and he ended up hitting the chip and chipped in. We were both kind of urging each other on.”

Although Langer, the 58-year-old two-time Masters champion, got the better of Day, beating him by a shot in the third round, Day is still very much in position to do what he came for – win a green jacket.

Day goes off in the third-to-last pairing at 2:25 p.m. today with Dustin Johnson, who is also tied for fifth.

“Make birdies when I can, keep pushing forward, because obviously the wind is going to die down and hopefully it’s enough tomorrow,” Day said. “It’s always fun to play Sunday in contention.”