Rory McIlroy masters Augusta

The widely accepted point of the third round in any major championship is to weed out the weak, eliminate inappropriate interlopers and set things up nicely for the best of the rest on day four. That's the theory anyway; practice can be a bit different, as was the case at Augusta National yesterday. All day three of the 75th Masters Tournament did was confirm the prodigious and precocious talent possessed by Rory McIlroy.

This is far from over though. On Saturday morning ten players were within five shots of McIlroy's lead; by close of play as many as 12 challengers – including Tiger Woods – find themselves within seven of the young Ulsterman, whose oh-so steady four-birdie, two-bogey 70 took him to 12 under the card and maintained his place atop the leader-board, four clear of a diverse foursome: Jason Day of Australia, Argentina's Angel Cabrera, Charl Schwartzel of South Africa and Korean KJ Choi.

All in all, McIlroy – who had close friend, fellow Irishman and US Open champion Graeme McDowell in his gallery – handled his first experience of a halfway lead at a major with an aplomb and maturity some doubted he might show in such a pressure-packed situation. Despite not firing at anything like the weekday rate that propelled him to the sharp end of what is only his third Masters, the 21-year-old can be proud of what he achieved amidst a level of stress he has never felt before.

For Woods, a frustrating 74 for five under par was the same mixture of brilliance and frustration that has lately become the norm for the 14-time major champion. Most significantly, his bad shots – typical of any golfer changing his swing – were well short of satisfactory. Unless he finds something extraordinary on the practice range before the final round, it is hard to imagine him ending a near-three year winning drought in Grand Slam events.

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Not unexpectedly, the very low scoring of the first two days was generally more difficult – but far from impossible – to spot on a hot and humid Augusta afternoon. With as many as 36 players under par for 36-holes – and much anecdotal evidence of par-5s being reached in two by the likes of Alvaro Quiros, Gary Woodland and Bubba Watson with 3-woods and short irons – the course was predictably firmer and faster than the strangely soft lay-out we saw before the weekend, the pins tucked away in spots that proved too much for the likes of the increasingly lamentable Sergio Garcia, whose 75 included a disastrous 42 shots on the back-nine and Lee Westwood, who was struck dumb by the hopelessness of his work on the slick putting surfaces.

"It was tougher today," said Justin Rose, who shot 71 to be one under for the week. "The greens are faster and the pin positions were definitely trickier. The tournament committee clearly thinks that ten-under par is a good score for two days but they don't want the guys getting too much deeper than that."

We can expect less of the same today, however. Over the last couple of seasons club chairman Billy Payne and his green-jacketed henchmen have shown a gratifyingly more enlightened view of how golf should be played on Alister Mackenzie's strategic masterpiece, a course modelled on the Old Course at St Andrews. Longer Augusta National may be, but the daft trees planted early in this century are gradually disappearing, as is more and more of the so-called 'second cut,' or semi-rough. So the birdies and eagles have gradually been returning and the Masters is once again golf's most exciting tournament. It's called seeing sense – albeit a little late.

Which is not to say that low scoring was impossible yesterday. Watson, former champion Cabrera and Adam Scott nipped round the premises in 67 blows, showing the later starters that plodding along with pars wasn't necessarily going to be enough to maintain their lofty status. Scott's score could and should have been even lower. Still, seven under par for 54-holes was good news for those hoping for a first-ever Australian victory in the Masters; but bad news for those who never want to see a man wielding a long putter win a major championship.

It is, however, Cabrera's move to eight under par that may prove to be the most significant. The 2008 champion's recent form has been less than distinguished but he is possessed of a power game tailor-made for this 7,435-yard monster.

The leading European apart from McIlroy is World Match Play champion Luke Donald. The Chicago-based Englishman – albeit his father hails from Stranraer – shot 69 to be seven under the card and poised for what will either be the greatest day of his career or just another top-ten finish in a major championship. The more hopeful amongst us will bet on the former, the more cynical on the latter.

As for Scotland's lone representative after the early demise of Sandy Lyle, Martin Laird's second successive 69 represented a stout effort from one making his Masters debut. The 28-year old Glaswegian by way of Colorado and Arizona is now four under par and looking good for the top-16 finish that would see him invited back here next year. Then again, if he hits the ball as well as he did yesterday – and holes a few more putts – greater ambition isn't completely beyond the former Scottish Youths champion. He is but eight shots back.

"That was about as high as I could have shot today," said the recent winner of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

"I played well today but didn't make many putts. I felt like I left three or four shots out there, so although I'm happy with how I performed I'm a little frustrated with how I scored. But if I keep shooting in the 60s I'll keep going up the leader-board."

How true. Augusta, as it was always meant to be, is again the kind of place where almost anything is possible. Roll on a fascinating Sunday.