Aussie buddies fail to make up ground on leader Spieth

Playing a round of golf with a friend can help only so much when you need to shoot a low score.

It’s even tougher when you’re at the Masters Tour­nament and you’re trying to catch Jordan Spieth.

That was the challenge facing Australians Jason Day and Adam Scott, the 2013 Mas­ters champion. They entered Saturday’s third round tied for 12th at 3-under and 11 strokes behind Spieth.

“We’ve played a lot here now over the last few years,” Scott said after carding 74 to fall to 1-under. “It’s a nice pairing for me, a very comfortable pairing. But it doesn’t help make up a 12-shot deficit.”

Day shot 71 for 4-under.

“I had a lot of work to do, and it’s always good when you’re playing with a friend and a fellow Aussie, obviously,” he said. “I was just out there trying to shoot the lowest score I had, and 71 was it.”
Day felt he missed a few opportunities on the front nine, where he recorded birdies at Nos. 2 and 7 while bogeying No. 4.

“I was just trying to grind it as much as possible,” Day said. “I knew early, once I couldn’t quite get the putts going in, I’m like, ‘This is going to be a tough one on the greens today.’ ”

His second nine featured birdies at the 13th and 15th and bogeys at Nos. 14 and 17. No. 18, where his approach hit the pin and came back down the green, summed up his round of near-misses:

“When it rains, it pours, I guess. Sometimes when it’s your day, it’s your day, and when it’s not, it’s not.”

Scott’s day wasn’t as good; he posted four birdies (Nos. 2, 3, 8, 11) to go with two bogeys (Nos. 4, 15) and two double bogeys (5, 18).

“I played well enough for 56 today and walk away with 74,” Scott said.

With Day still tied for 12th and Scott dropping to a tie for 25th, they don’t expect miracles today.

“I’ve got to shoot something really deep,” Day said. “I know I can do it because I’ve shot 11-under and 9-under earlier this year. But, obviously, it’s tough to do in a major. But stranger things have happened.”