Jordan Spieth will take a one-shot lead into the final round of the Masters Tournament after a dramatic day of twists and turns at Augusta National.
The defending champion entered the day with a one-shot lead which he soon extended to three, and he looked comfortable as he turned in 35 on a day when the wind and testing greens made scoring difficult.
A double-bogey on the 11th saw his lead cut to one as 58 year old two-time champion Bernhard Langer made a sensational surge up the leaderboard, but a brilliant run of three birdies in four holes from the 12th handed him a four-shot lead.
More drama was to come, however, as poor tee-shots on the 17th and 18th saw him drop three shots in the final two holes to slip to three under and leave the door open for the chasing pack.
That will be led by Smylie Kaufman, who fired the low round of the day with a 69, and Langer and Hideki Matsuyama, who are a further shot behind with only four players under par.
"I played better than I scored today," said Spieth. "It was a really tough finish to go from holding a four-shot lead and being in a very similar position to last year to where all of the sudden now it's anyone's game, so it's tough to swallow that.
I'm in the lead after 54 holes. If you told me that at the beginning of the week, I'd be obviously be very pleased. So it's mixed feelings right now - Jordan Spieth
"I played a really, really solid round, with just two bad shots at the end of the round. If I look at it that way, we're in good position. It just stinks that my score doesn't reflect the way I played."
Saturday had been billed as a contest between Spieth and Rory McIlroy as the American led the World Number Three by just one shot with the duo going out in the last group of the day.
But Spieth's late wobble saw him record a 73, while McIlroy signed for a 77, and the Northern Irishman will go out on Sunday five shots behind the leader as he hunts a career Grand Slam of Major Championships.
While Kaufman made three birdies in his last six holes to register the round of the day, the story of the day belonged to Langer, who rolled back the years to delight the patrons in Georgia, and a win on Sunday would make him the oldest winner of a Major Championship by over a decade.
Langer was level par through 12 holes but then birdied three in a row and when Spieth double-bogeyed after a chip and three putts on the 11th, the German was one shot back.
He dropped a shot on the last to finish with a 70 but will have a chance to win the Green Jacket, as will a host of other European Tour Members.
Danny Willett mastered the conditions in a round of 72 to sit level par for the tournament, along with World Number One Jason Day and American Dustin Johnson.
Lee Westwood is a shot further back after a 71, one of only five under par rounds on Saturday, alongside Søren Kjeldsen, with McIlroy then at two over.
