BY STEVE KEIPERT AT AUGUSTA NATIONAL

ONLY one Australian remains in touch with leader Jordan Spieth as one round remains of the 2016 Masters, and it just happens to be the top-ranked player in the game.

Jason Day broke par for the first time this week with a gritty, grinding one-under 71 that returns him to even-par and three shots from Spieth’s lead. It’s been three days of toil and graft for the World No.1, but there is definitely still hope for Day to add a Masters title to the US PGA Championship title he snared eight months ago.

There was a significant rebound from Jason Day on moving day as a 71 puts him back in the green jacket frame. PHOTO: Harry How/Getty Images There was a significant rebound from Jason Day on moving day as a 71 puts him back in the green jacket frame. PHOTO: Harry How/Getty Images

“The past three days have been really tough,” Day said. “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, minimise mistakes and just be patient with yourself.’ And today I was very happy with it.”

As he should be. Day rode a hot putter on the front nine, saving bogey from eight feet at the 1st hole and sinking lengthy par putts at the 3rd, 6th and 7th. He birdied the 9th from close range to turn one-under for the round and upped his pillaging of the outward half to eight strokes in the red for the week. He bogeyed the 12th from the front bunker then canned birdie putts at the 13th and 14th of 15 and 70 feet, respectively. The second of those was pure theft as Day drove wildly left and did well to find the far right-hand reaches of the enormous, rippled green. That his long-range probe dropped right in the centre gave the 28-year-old the sign he needed that, finally, his luck this week was turning.

Today could ultimately prove instructive for Day in his quest to one day win the Masters, whether tomorrow or further into the future. He was paired alongside Bernhard Langer, who, extraordinarily, is still contending at Augusta at age 58. The wily German won the 1985 and ’93 Masters titles and schooled the Queenslander on Saturday as to how to tame Augusta National when you don’t drive the ball 300 metres. Instead, Langer played clever, point-to-point golf, taking no risks and snaring the few opportunities the course offered, ultimately pipping Day’s 71 by a stroke. If Day took the time to scrutinise and absorb Langer’s approach, he might handle Augusta in tough conditions even better than he has this year.

“It’s impressive, really, really impressive to watch what Bernhard did out there today,” Day said. “Just the positions he was in compared to where I was. I mean, I can just think about [hole] 10. I had 120 yards to the pin and I’m not sure what he had, but he was at least 60 to 80 yards behind me. And he just kept going along and knows his strengths and weaknesses.

“I had a lot of fun playing with him. I could tell how great he is, how much of a competitor he is. He’s a true professional in that regard. And I know he wants to compete and try and win this thing tomorrow. But we’re all trying to do the same.”

Adam Scott described the Augusta greens as being “like glass” during his third-round 75. PHOTO: Harry How/Getty Images Adam Scott described the Augusta greens as being “like glass” during his third-round 75.
PHOTO: Harry How/Getty Images

Adam Scott’s day began with seven straight pars, which was doing him no harm but also not generating any forward momentum. Some were missed birdie opportunities; others tidy saves. But when that string ended with a messy bogey at the par-5 8th rather than the birdie he needed, the 2013 champion appeared destined for another over-par round. Scott made only one birdie (at the par-5 15th) in a 75 that dropped him to seven-over. He’s made only seven birdies in 54 holes and while nothing worse than a bogey blots his card, there have simply been too many of them to be in contention.

“It was really tough. A bit cooler this morning and very windy, blustery. It was one of the toughest days I’ve ever seen out here in my time here,” said Scott, who hasn’t missed a Masters since his debut in 2002. “I played fairly well, I scrambled pretty good all day, but I just never had any real opportunities for birdie.

“I feel like I’ve been beaten around a bit this week. It’s very hard to get an indication of how you’re even playing because some of the shots you have to play are not your usual stuff and it’s very hard to find momentum.”

Cam Smith’s elation at starting Saturday in contention was short-lived as he overshot the 1st green and ran up a double-bogey that began a trend of dropped shots in an ugly round of 82 to plunge from three-over to 13-over.

Scott and Smith are playing for pride, Day is playing for history. If he can scratch birdies out of the front nine on Sunday and continue to reverse his record for the troublesome inward half, the man atop the world of golf can still add a green jacket to his wardrobe.