Moving Day Puts Young On Top of Masters Leaderboard with McIlroy

Saturday at the Masters is affectionately referred to as "Moving Day." And boy, did the 2026 edition feature plenty of movement.

After holding a record six-shot lead after 36 holes coming into the day, defending champion Rory McIlroy watched the wheels fall off in his third round. All the magic that came together Friday was missing Saturday.

But he's still on top of the leaderboard, just with some extra company: Cameron Young.

Young stole most of the attention for much of the afternoon and early evening, as he shot a blistering 7-under, 65 to move to the top of the leaderboard. He had eight birdies and one bogey on the round.

McIlroy held his lead for just under 3 hours after his 2:50 p.m. tee time on Saturday. At 5:35 p.m., Young drained a long birdie putt on 16 to move to 11-under, while just 2 minutes later, McIlroy struggled to a bogey on 12, dropping him to 10-under at the time. He got it back together a bit and shot a 1-over, 73.

And if there were any questions about how strong Young's round was going, his tee shot after that long birdie answered them. He sent his drive into the trees on the right of 17, but the trees said thanks for playing and shot the ball right back into the fairway.

McIlroy, meanwhile, put his tee shot at 13 off into the trees, and did not get the same luck. He was firmly in the pine straw for the third straight day. He managed to scrape together a par on the Par 5 hole, and then followed it with a birdie on 14 to move back into a tie on top.

World No. 3 Young and world No. 2 McIlroy will be in the final pairing Sunday, but they aren't sitting as comfortable, with a crowded field just behind them.

Just one shot back is Sam Burns, who put together a rare bogey-free round. He shot 68 and is at 10-under. He'll be paired with Shane Lowry, who had a solid 68 of his own and is 9-under overall.

Jason Day and last year's runner-up Justin Rose are just behind them at 8-under.

Lost in the shuffle of McIlroy and Young up top, world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler quietly surged back into contention, tying for the best round of the tournament with a 7-under, 65 of his own. Scheffler entered the day at even, after struggling to a 74 on Friday.

Patrick Cantlay also moved himself up into striking position. After a first-round 77, Cantlay shot 67 on Friday, and 66 on Saturday to move into the Top 10. He's 6-under for the tournament.

Haotong Li is with Scheffler at 7-under. Cantlay is joined by Russell Henley (who also had a bogey-free round) and Patrick Reed at 6-under.

Shane Lowry had a solid round on Saturday, but what got the most attention was a bit of Masters history.

Lowry aced the sixth hole Saturday, becoming the first player ever to have two career holes-in-one at Augusta National. There have been 35 total in tournament history.