Byrd Falls Out of Contention for Masters

Clemson University product Jonathan Byrd shot even par Saturday at the Masters in Augusta, Ga., but that wasn’t good enough to stay within reach of the leaders.

Byrd, a Columbia native who went to Spring Valley High School, made the turn at 2-under but couldn’t trim that any further on the back nine. He bogeyed a couple of holes, in fact, and at 1-under for the event, stands eight strokes out of the lead with 18 to play on Sunday.

Peter Hanson of Sweden, who fired the round of the day with birdies on four of the last five holes to reach 65, is at 9-under-par for a one-stroke advantage.

Phil Mickelson recovered from 4-over after his first 10 holes to shoot 2-under and is only one shot behind.

Byrd is in 19^th place and still has plenty of incentive. If he can move up to 16^th place, Byrd would automatically qualify for next year’s Masters.

Bill Hass of Greenville, meanwhile, another former Clemson player, shot 4-over 76 in the third round and is at 6-over for the tournament, tied for 48^th place. He got off to another bad start with a bogey on the first hole for the third straight day.