LIV Golf's Brooks Koepka Leads by 2 Over Jon Rahm Heading to Masters Final Round

The two major champions traded blows on Sunday morning at Augusta National, but the LIV Golf member held onto his lead.

When play resumed at the 2023 Masters at 8:30 a.m. ET Sunday morning, Brooks Koepka held a four-shot lead over Jon Rahm. It only took one stroke from each player for that advantage to be cut in half. While the LIV Golf member missed his 11-foot par putt, Rahm sunk a 9-footer for birdie. 

The two-shot gap between the pair of major champions remained in place until Amen Corner. At Golden Bell, the renowned par-3 12th, Koepka flew a 9-iron over the green. He failed to get up-and-down from the back fringe, and his lead was suddenly down to one shot. 

Two holes later, however, at the recently lengthened par-5 13th, Rahm made an unfortunate error and dropped a shot, despite laying up. The Spaniard made another mistake on the 16th hole, where he missed the green to the right, making an up-and-down nearly impossible with the tucked Round 3 pin location. 

Both Brooks Koepka and Jon Rahm birdie No. 8. The lead remains at two. #themasters pic.twitter.com/XTF1qUukPK

— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 9, 2023

Koepka’s lead was suddenly restored to three shots, but not for long. The LIV member missed a four-foot putt for par on the 17th—one of his first short-range misses of the tournament. 

On 18, Rahm left himself with a slippery downhill par putt to make in order to secure his spot in the final pairing, and he did just that. Viktor Hovland had put that position in jeopardy as he surged up the leaderboard with a third-round 70. Four birdies in a row on holes 11-14 skyrocketed the Norwegian into solo third place at 8 under.

Climbing up the leader board, Viktor Hovland cards four straight birdies on Nos. 11, 12, 13 and 14 to move to seven under par. #themasters pic.twitter.com/XU3ibbMnrd

— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 9, 2023

While Rahm and Koepka traded blows, Bennett battled to a round a 4-over 76, with the course playing longer than it has all week. 

“Look, it's going to be an interesting afternoon,” Koepka said. “If the wind keeps blowing and keeps swirling like this down there, anything can happen. You've just got to be in control of your ball.”

Rahm, who will look to capture his second major championship victory on Sunday afternoon, also spoke to the media after the conclusion of Round 3. 

“Well, it's important to be in the final pairing, the closest pursuer. I mean, I can't be worrying too much about what he's doing. My objective today is to focus on my own game and what I can control. Whatever Brooks does is whatever Brooks does,” Rahm said. 

The fourth round will begin at 12:30 p.m. with twosomes off the 1st and 10th tees. The final-round broadcast will begin on CBS at 2 p.m. ET.