'We'll see what everyone is made of' -Masters contenders on final-round showdown

Rory McIlroy (left) let the chasing pack into the tournament with a ragged one-over 73 on Saturday [Getty Images]

The Masters round three leaderboard

-11 C Young (US), R McIlroy (NI); -10 S Burns (US)

Selected: -9 S Lowry (Ire); -8 J Day (Aus), J Rose (Eng); -7 S Scheffler (US), L Haotong (Chn); -6 P Cantlay (US), P Reed (US); -4 T Hatton (Eng), T Fleetwood (Eng)

Full leaderboard

The Masters looks set to deliver an enthralling conclusion after a third-round stumble by defending champion Rory McIlroy opened the door to a star-studded chasing pack at Augusta National.

Everywhere you look there are intriguing stories to be told.

Will world number one Scottie Scheffler complete a remarkable weekend and set a new record of coming from 12 shots back after two rounds to win a third title in five years? Will Justin Rose finally get over the line at his 21st attempt after three runners-up finishes?

Will Shane Lowry and Jason Day add to their solitary major triumphs?

Or will Cameron Young, who is tied with McIlroy for the lead on 11 under, follow in the footsteps of the five-time major winner and Scheffler and make it a hat-trick of players to complete the Players Championship-Masters double, while breaking his major duck?

There are others who have legitimate shouts of claiming a first major title.

Sam Burns is one off the pace, Li Haotong is four back. And you can look as far down the leaderboard as Patrick Cantlay given an out-of-sorts McIlroy let slip a record six-shot halfway lead during a dramatic Saturday at Augusta National.

Sunday promises to be a captivating shootout.

"I'm still tied for the best score, so I can't forget that, but I do know I'm going to have to be better if I want to have a chance to win," said McIlroy who struggled with all aspects of his game on Saturday.

"I'd like to think that I'll play a little bit freer [on Sunday] and I'll play like I've already got a Green Jacket."

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Redemption for Rose?

McIlroy defeated Rose in a play-off to win last year, but the Englishman kept alive his hopes of finally slipping into the Green Jacket with a bogey-free 69 on Saturday.

Rose made 10 birdies in a closing 66 last year and he feels he needs another inspired showing on Sunday.

"It's going to take a special round, so there's a chance, which is great," said the 45-year-old, who sits three shots off the lead and would become the second-oldest winner after Jack Nicklaus claimed his record sixth title in 1986 at the age of 46.

"I'm going to try to channel a bit of last year and see what happens."

However, the 2013 US Open champion admits ascending to the top of a bunched leaderboard is a more daunting prospect than trying to catch one player.

"There are a few guys to get through, which is often a lot harder," he said.

"If it was one guy five ahead, it's almost an easier thing to contend with, because there's a bit more help."

Rose is not the only veteran seeking Masters redemption.

Day, runner-up in 2011 and third in 2013, still hopes to become the second Australian after Adam Scott to win the Masters following a third-round 68 that featured four straight birdies from the 12th to also leave him three off the pace.

"The guys that are leading have all the pressure," said the former world number one, whose sole major came at the 2015 US PGA Championship.

"I'm the chaser. Usually the chasers don't have a lot of the pressure. Guys at the top of the leaderboard always are trying to defend the lead, whereas I'm pushing forward trying to cut into the lead.

"I feel good about my game. I feel happy with where things are."

Hoping to upstage Ryder Cup team-mates McIlroy and Rose, Lowry will enter the final round just two back after a rollercoaster 68 that featured a glorious hole-in-one at the sixth.

Understandably thrilled with his ace - his second at Augusta - the 39-year-old Irishman said "we'll see what everyone is made of" in the pressure-cooker atmosphere of Masters Sunday.

"It's a pretty good leaderboard, so it's going to be pretty hard to win this tournament, but I'll give it my best," added the 2019 Open champion.

Young and Scheffler carry American hopes

While Lowry will be paired with Burns in the penultimate group, McIlroy will have Young for company in the final pairing - they also played the first two rounds together - after the American surged through the field with a superb 65.

World number three Young, who hopes to emulate Scheffler in 2024 and McIlroy last year by following a Players Championship win with a Masters title, has stormed up the leaderboard since playing his first 11 holes of the tournament in four over par.

"My past results don't dictate what I do [on Sunday]," said the 28-year-old, who will attend mass with his wife and three children before heading to Augusta National or the final round.

"While there are a lot of positive things to take from [the Players win], I've got to earn whatever I get out of [Sunday], and the best way that I know to do that is to attack the day like I have the past three."

Matching Young, Scheffler recaptured his best form with a bogey-free 65 that reignited the world number one's hopes of a third Masters title after winning in 2022 and 2024.

Scheffler trailed McIlroy by 12 shots after the second round. The largest 36-hole deficit overcome by a Masters champion was eight strokes by Jack Burke Jr, who knocked off that deficit in the final round in 1956, but Scheffler galloped back into contention with a typically stunning portfolio of approach shots on Saturday and he goes into Sunday four back.

"What great players and great competitors do is they're able to rise to the occasion," he said when asked if he can find another level.

"When you look at the biggest tournaments, you'd be hard-pressed to find another that's bigger than this one, especially for myself."