By Marc Lawrence — Hideki Matsuyama owns a four-shot lead at 11-under par, better than four players at 7-under for the tournament (Xander Schauffele, Justin Rose, Marc Leishman and Will Zalatoris). Schauffele will join Matsuyama in Sunday’s final pairing.
Our good friend Brady Kannon, a Playbook Expert and radio host at VSiN, served up these Masters gems as this year’s event enters the final round today…
Twenty-five of the last 30-Masters winners have come from the final pairing on Sunday.
The last Masters winner to come from beyond the Top 5 on the leaderboard was Nick Faldo in 1985. Corey Conners is currently in sixth place at 6-under par, while Jordan Spieth is in seventh at 5-under.
The last 24 Masters champions have been within four shots of the lead.
Only four players in Masters history have blown a 54-hole lead, when leading by 4-strokes.
Burrowing In
The Cincinnati Bengals are sitting pretty with this year’s fifth overall pick.
Three quarterbacks are expected to be off the board within the first three selections. Then, the Atlanta Falcons have a choice between a quarterback or possibly Florida tight end Kyle Pitts. If Atlanta goes in either of those directions, Cincinnati will have its pick of LSU wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase or Oregon offensive tackle Penei Sewell.
Both are fantastic talents, though the latter is far more important to the franchise.
Quarterback Joe Burrow can have all the weapons in the world, but it won’t matter if he’s trying to throw from his backside. Protection should take priority at all costs, especially since Cincinnati didn’t do enough to improve its offensive line in free agency.
Even if Chase becomes the team’s initial pick, the Bengals can address their front five with a quality prospect near the top of Round 2.
