Masters 2024: Ryan Fox all but out of contention after mixed third round at Augusta National

Ryan Fox has all but fallen out of contention at the 2024 US Masters, after a third round of five-over at Augusta National.

Having made the cut on Saturday (NZ time), Fox left the course in a share of 26th place at four-over for the tournament, heading into the final round on Monday.

At four-over, the Kiwi is tied with Australia’s Adam Scott, who won the green jacket in 2013, and is 11 shots off the pace.

“It was a weird day,” said Fox afterwards. “Obviously I had a couple of great shots early.

“I actually felt like I played great on the back nine. Everyone saw what happened on 17, that’s one of the more unlucky breaks I’ve had on a golf course.

“It rolled into a crap lie as well. I had no chance of getting near it, and just had a bit of a brain explosion on that first putt. That kind of ruined what was a really good round.”

As Fox finished, American world No 1 Scottie Scheffler held the outright lead at seven-under overall, closely followed by his compatriots, with Colin Morikawa (six-under) in second, and Max Homa (five-under) two shots back.

However, Fox’s day could have finished in better fashion, after hitting the flag at the par four 17th, as the ball trickled into the bunker en route to a triple bogey for the Kiwi, before dropping another shot on the 18th.

All up, Fox finished with four birdies, six bogeys and the triple bogey for his day’s work.

Starting the day at one-under, Fox began brightly, and peeled off three successive birdies to start the day, and surged up the leaderboard at four-under.

But given the challenging course conditions on offer at Augusta, Fox quickly came back down to earth to finish his front nine.

After three straight pars, Fox dropped three shots in as many holes from the seventh to the ninth, and lost any ground gained from his three birdies, and finish his front nine at even par.

Then, to make matters worse, the 37-year-old dropped another shot on the 10th, and moved to one-over for his third round.

A birdie on the 13th gave promise of a recovery on the back nine, only to drop another shot on the 14th, before the disaster on the 17th.

Leaving the course in a share of 26th, Fox holds the same place on the leaderboard as his finish in 2023, in what was his first visit to the Masters as a player.

However, the Kiwi has hope of finishing on a high in the final round on Monday morning.

“It’s all there,” he added. “I definitely know I can put a score together tomorrow.

“It was nice to feel comfortable out there in that scenario. The golfing gods weren’t overly kind to me today - I had a lot of good shots that didn’t get rewarded.

“Looking at the scoring, it’s pretty damn tough out there. It’s beaten everyone up this afternoon.

“So hopefully I can go a little earlier tomorrow, the golf course might be a little softer, and put a score together.”

Ten players were still active at the time Fox left the course to complete his third round.

Alex Powell is an Online Sports Editor for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016, and previously worked for both Newshub and 1News.