Augusta National’s day of carnage

• Six players shoot in the 80s on day three
• Wind blows Horschel’s ball inro water
• Kisner: ‘Every shot is guessing and praying’

“It was carnage,” said Adam Scott. He wasn’t joking, either.

Augusta National played its toughest for nearly ten years today as the 80th Masters forced the world’s best players to buckle up and dig deep.

On a day when winds gusted to 30mph, Jordan Spieth managed to keep a hold of his grasp on this tournament at the top of the leaderboard whilst world No.1 Jason Day rediscovered his love of Augusta’s back nine to get back in the mix.

But there were some horror stories – a common trait this week – and some tales to tell.

After blasting a journalist on Twitter who picked holes in his obsession with fashion and Ferrari’s, Ian Poulter proceeded to shoot 82, saying he’s lost his touch on the greens early on in his round.

In total, six players shot 80 or worse. Kevin Na went round in 13-over to post 85, the worst score of the day. Sergio Garcia, level par at the start of the day, three-putted 18 for an 81. 17 players shot 78 or worse.

Rory McIlroy once again saw his Masters dream all-but collapse on the tenth hole, hitting a hook into the trees, forcing him to punch out. He settled for bogey then drained a ten-footer at the next for double bogey after finding the water. He eventually signed for a 77, leaving him five shots back on his Grand Slam dream.

Kevin Kisner had a respectable 76 blows and said: ”Every shot is just guessing and hitting and praying.”

Asked what he was going to do after the round, he said he was going to “go home and have a beer and sit on the couch and laugh at everybody else”.

It wasn’t all negatives, though. Matt Kuchar went round in even par and said he “played some amazing golf”.

The worst luck of the day, though, went in the direction of fiery American Billy Horschel. The American hit the 15th green in two, giving himself an eagle putt and a shot at jumping up the leaderboard – but when he lifted his marker, a gust blew his ball of the green and into the water. Going by the new rule, he had to play his ball from where it lies. “Obviously I didn’t have my scuba gear to play it from the water,” said Horschel. “I just wasn’t happy.”

Known for his fiery temper, the former FedExCup winner was surprisingly at peace with the situation. “I was good enough in the sense that I expressed some frustrations to the rules official,” he said. “But it was nothing out of hand, nothing out of line. I have no issues with the set-up. Everyone knows I’m an emotional guy. I’m just trying to learn as I get older to harness it a little bit.”

Follow @BunkeredOnline// < ![CDATA[
// < ![CDATA[
// < ![CDATA[
// < ![CDATA[
// < ![CDATA[
!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s),p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?’http’:’https’;if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+’://

platform.twitter.com/widgets.js’;fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs)

;}}(document, ‘script’, ‘twitter-wjs’);
// ]]>

Bryce Ritchie is the Editor of bunkered and, in addition to leading on content and strategy, oversees all aspects of the brand. The first full-time journalist employed by bunkered, he joined the company in 2001 and has been editor since 2009. A member of Balfron Golfing Society, he currently plays off nine and once got a lesson from Justin Thomas’ dad.

Editor of bunkered