Jason Day wasn't expecting receptive Masters greens on Saturday

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Jason Day was not expecting the greens at Augusta National to be as receptive as they were during the third round of the Masters Tournament.

It was a pleasant surprise, though, and he made sure to capitalize on it. Day shot his best round of the tournament with a 4-under 68 on Saturday to keep him near the top of the leaderboard headed into the final round of play.

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“Typically sometimes you get to, you know, Saturday at Augusta and they're bouncing,” Day said. “It's really difficult to hold some shots. So I thought the green speeds were lovely. I thought the green firmness was great. It was very fair, and I think that's why you're seeing a lot of, like, decent scores out there, which brings in a lot of the crowd, which is great.”

Day’s 68 was his best score ever in the third round of the Masters. The 15-time Masters starter also sunk four-straight birdies on Nos. 12-15. The last time Day made four consecutive birdies was back in the 2017 Masters on the same group of holes.

Jason Day looks on the 18th green during the third round of the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.

“Statistically I average around four to five birdies a round, so I just knew they were going to come,” Day said. “I just didn't know when they were going to come. It was nice to be able to have the chances from 12 to 15; hit a lot of good quality shots going into the greens. I also hit a lot of good drives to give myself the opportunities up near the greens on the par-5s.”

It’s tough to predict how the greens will play from round to round. But if the conditions on Sunday are similar to how they were on Saturday, it may be a tight race down the stretch with Day right in the mix to win his first Masters.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Masters greens receptive for scoring for third round in 2026