McIlroy falters, shares Masters lead with Young, who is on a roll

Rory McIlroy rebounded down the stretch after squandering a six-shot lead and shares the lead with Cameron Young after an eventful third round at the Masters on Saturday.

In a chaotic afternoon at Augusta National, both players sent key shots into the water on the back nine but finished tied at the top of the leaderboard at 11-under-par 205 after 54 holes, one stroke ahead of American Sam Burns.

McIlroy, who began the day with a record six-stroke lead, signed for a 73, one over par, while Young stormed into title contention with a brilliant round of 65, seven under par.

"I didn't have it today," McIlroy admitted. "I scrambled a lot on the front nine."

McIlroy, ranked second, made birdies on the 14th and 15th holes to regain the lead, but his tee shot on the 17th hole ended up in the trees, costing him a bogey and a round of one-over-par.

"This golf course has a way of, when you're not quite feeling it, you struggle," McIlroy said. "You have to dig deep."

McIlroy, a five-time major tournament winner, hopes to match Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Nick Faldo as the only back-to-back winners of the green jacket.

Young, a third-place finisher and winner of the Players Championship last month, got off to a blistering start with birdies on five of the first 10 holes.

He birdied the 13th and 14th holes; his tee shot on the 13th hit a tree and landed fortuitously in the fairway, then overcame a bogey in the water on the 15th hole by holing a 27-foot birdie putt on the par-three 16th hole.

As a result, the 28-year-old American has an excellent chance to capture his first major title.

Burns signed for a 68 and led Irishman Shane Lowry by one stroke.

Lowry made a hole-in-one on the sixth hole, a 190-yard par three, en route to a 68-stroke card that left him in fourth place with 207, one stroke ahead of Australia's Jason Day and England's Justin Rose.

Lowry, winner of the 2019 British Open, became the first Masters player with multiple holes-in-one, having carded a hole-in-one on the 16th hole in the final round in 2016.