Will Korea's K.J. Choi win the Masters on Sunday?
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Only once in the first 73 years of the Masters has a player who started the final round outside the top 10 of the leaderboard gone on to win. Art Wall won the 1959 Masters after finishing the third round tied for 13th.
But we're not expecting that type of rally on Sunday. It's fairly safe to assume that one of the players inside the top 10 of Saturday's leaderboard will emerge as the winner when the final putt drops on Sunday.
Here's a quick look at each player in the top 10 and what they might have to do in the final round:
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Analyzing the top 10's chances
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1 | Lee Westwood | 12 under | Until his 36-hole tie with Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood had never held the overnight lead in a major. On Sunday, the world No. 4 will go it alone as he stalks what would be a career-defining victory. He's finished third in three of the last seven majors and twice missed out on playoffs by a shot. But he's playing his game -- he leads all players in greens in regulation -- and playing with a calmness we haven't seen before. He's not going away. | 2 | Phil Mickelson | 11 under | He says this is a course where he can make mistakes, but Mickelson didn't make many on Saturday. He holed shots and made putts and whipped the crowd into a frenzy. Can he win his first major and third Green Jacket coming from behind for the first time? His family, with him at an event for the first time in 11 months, offers plenty of support and motivation. | T3 | Tiger Woods | 8 under | For all the grimaces and groans, he brought it back pretty well on Saturday with three consecutive back-nine birdies and another one on the last hole to build on. Woods has never come from behind to win any major, but there's a first time for everything. Still, he can't expect the two veterans in front of him to stumble. | T3 | K.J. Choi | 8 under | He's been under the microscope all three days playing with Tiger, and he's there again on Sunday. Choi just goes about his business, though, and Saturday marked his second round in the 60s this week -- equalling his total for his first 24 at Augusta National. Will he make it two straight majors for the Koreans? | 5 | Fred Couples | 7 under | The dream lives on for the 50-year-old veteran who got himself back in the hunt for a second Green Jacket with a 68 on Saturday. Will his 100th round at Augusta National bring his signature victory? A lot will depend on his back and whether it stiffens up. | T6 | Ricky Barnes | 6 under | There's something about major championships that bring out the best in Barnes. Too bad he can't bottle it up and take it back to the PGA TOUR where he's only had one top-10 since his runner-up at last year's U.S. Open. | T6 | Hunter Mahan | 6 under | A steady and superb ball-striker, he's a major waiting to happen. A 68 on Saturday got him into the hunt again but unless he goes crazy, he might have to settle for a second-straight top-10 at Augusta National. | T6 | Ian Poulter | 6 under | The Englishman has to be disappointed with his performance on Saturday when he went from a tie for the lead to six strokes behind his good friend. He'll need to hit more fairways on Sunday to close the gap and more importantly see some putts go in. | T9 | Anthony Kim | 5 under | Could the man who won Sunday's Shell Houston Open be running out of gas? Kim knows how to make birdies at Augusta National, though -- he had 11 in the second round last year. He could be the wild-card of this whole group. | T9 | Y.E. Yang | 5 under | The PGA champ likely squandered his chance to win a second straight major on the front nine Saturday. He gutted out a round of even par but he'll need to go much, much lower in the final round. |
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3 Koreans are staying in the final 10.
Most likely, One of the 10 will get the green jacket at the end of Sunday.