JOHANNESBURG - South Africa’s Dylan Frittelli shot a superb third round bogey-free five-under 67 to remain in the hunt in the Masters, at Augusta, on Saturday.
The 30-year-old moved up to 11-under in solo fifth position, five shots behind American leader Dustin Johnson on 16-under. Frittelli is also one shot behind second place shared by South Korea’s Sungjae Im, Mexico’s Abraham Ancer and Australian Cameron Smith.
The US PGA Tour event-winner Frittelli has a previous best finish in his nine Majors played of tied-31st at the PGA Championship in 2018, and is making his second appearance in the Masters after making his debut in the event in 2018.
Frittelli had held a share of the first round lead after an opening seven-under 65, but slipped back in round two with a one-over 73.
Beginning his third round, Frittelli picked up his first birdie of the day at the par five second. In fact, the only other birdie he made on the nine was at the par five eighth as he made the turn in a steady two-under.
On the second nine, gains would follow at the par four 11th, par five 13th and a final birdie of his round at the par five 15th.
One of the reasons, Frittelli explains for his improved play is the work he has done in the gym with his strength and conditioning coach Nic Catterall.
Playing in only his second Masters, Dylan Frittelli shot a bogey-free Saturday 67 to get within 5 strokes of the lead. #themasters pic.twitter.com/b6hyIzE2Vx
— The Masters (@TheMasters) November 14, 2020
“I've picked up five or six miles per hour on the driver, so that's in about two, three months now,” said Frittelli.
“So I made some changes, I’ve been working out really well, and actually hitting those tee shots with intention now.
“It's kind of fun out there. It's really made the game more enjoyable for me.”
Louis Oosthuizen had promised much after opening rounds of 68 and 70 for a six-under total and a share of 14th at the halfway stage. However, he struggled to a third round three-over 75 to drop to three-under and out of contention in 29th spot.
Meanwhile, 2011 Masters champion Charl Schwartzel carded his best round of the week with a tidy three-under 69 to move up 21 spots on the leaderboard to join Oosthuizen on three-under overall.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout signed for a two-over 74 in round three to drop to level par overall, and in a share of 50th with one round remaining in his Masters debut.
African News Agency (ANA)