Your primer for a potentially epic Saturday at the Masters

The leaderboard is stacked as the weekend begins at Augusta National.

The best weekend in golf has arrived. The Masters is at the midpoint and we have an absolutely loaded leaderboard. On Golf Channel Saturday morning, the panel pondered and argued that it was the best 36-hole leaderboard in Masters history. The last two hours or so of the tee sheet are packed with names from the top of the world rankings and former major championship winners.

But let’s start first with the very top of the tee sheet, the first group out on Saturday at Augusta National. As is tradition, the green jackets have put a non-competing marker out there after an odd-number of players make the cut. And that marker is the legend, Jeff Knox, who, if you don’t know, get to know about him and all he’s done right now. The green jackets do not want a solo player whipping around in a couple hours and also want the player to have a regular sense of pace. Knox stays out of the way and keeps it moving and the player does not have an option to turn the marker down on the weekend. So he will be back on Sunday as well.

Saturdays at major championships are called “moving days” because it’s the time to get yourself in position for the final 18. If you’re deep down the leaderboard, you still have a chance. At the Masters, however, Saturday tends to be on the tougher side and precludes massive jumps up the the leaderboard. It varies from year to year, of course, and the conditions are soft and scoreable this year. But the biggest moves usually come with the Sunday pins, which promote birdies and even eagles in the final hours of the tournament.

Jordan Spieth said on Friday night he would need to cut the margin in half on Saturday. “I’m six back, if I can somehow cut it to three by Sunday, then I feel like I have a legitimate chance.” We saw Spieth make that kind of move on Sunday of last year, but given how much talent is ahead of him this year, he probably needs to do plenty of work on this Saturday too. The same goes for pre-tournament favorite Rory McIlroy, who also said he was very much in it still, and is seven shots off the pace. Rory will tee it up just after 11 a.m. ET and Spieth will go just after Noon.

Here’s your tee sheet for Saturday’s third round:

• 9:05 a.m. -- Eddie Pepperell
• 9:15 a.m. -- Branden Grace, Emiliano Grillo
• 9:25 a.m. -- Zach Johnson, Takumi Kanaya
• 9:35 a.m. -- Alex Noren, Billy Horschel
• 9:45 a.m. -- Martin Kaymer, Devon Bling
• 9:55 a.m. -- Henrik Stenson, Haotong Li
• 10:05 a.m. -- Keith Mitchell, Aaron Wise
• 10:15 a.m. -- Tyrrell Hatton, Patrick Cantlay
• 10:25 a.m. -- Hideki Matsuyama, Trevor Immelman
• 10:35 a.m. -- Satoshi Kodaira, Andrew Landry
• 10:45 a.m. -- Cameron Smith, Matthew Fitzpatrick
• 11:05 a.m. -- Marc Leishman, Rory McIlroy
• 11:15 a.m. -- Si Woo Kim, Kyle Stanley
• 11:25 a..m. -- Keegan Bradley, Bubba Watson
• 11:35 a.m. -- Kevin Na, Alvaro Ortiz
• 11:45 a.m. -- Viktor Hovland, Jimmy Walker
• 11:55 a.m. -- Patrick Reed, Webb Simpson
• 12:05 p.m. -- Jordan Spieth, Kevin Tway
• 12:15 p.m. -- Bernhard Langer, Rafael Cabrera Bello
• 12:25 p.m. -- Charley Hoffman, Tommy Fleetwood
• 12:35 p.m. -- J.B. Holmes, Lucas Bjerregaard
• 12:45 p.m. -- Thorbjorn Olesen, Kevin Kisner
• 1:05 p.m. -- Gary Woodland, Rickie Fowler
• 1:15 p.m. -- Corey Conners, Tony Finau
• 1:25 p.m. -- Bryson DeChambeau, Justin Thomas
• 1:35 p.m. -- Charles Howell III, Kiradech Aphibarnrat
• 1:45 p.m. -- Matt Kuchar, Phil Mickelson
• 1:55 p.m. -- Jon Rahm, Patton Kizzire
• 2:05 p.m. -- Tiger Woods, Ian Poulter
• 2:15 p.m. -- Justin Harding, Xander Schauffele
• 2:25 p.m. -- Louis Oosthuizen, Dustin Johnson
• 2:35 p.m. -- Brooks Koepka, Adam Scott
• 2:45 p.m. -- Francesco Molinari, Jason Day

The TV coverage will not begin until after the final tee time goes off the first tee, but there will be ample streaming options prior to Jim Nantz welcoming you with a “Hello, friends” on CBS.

Here’s your media schedule for Saturday at Augusta:

TV:

3-7 p.m.: Live third-round coverage — CBS

Streaming at Masters.com:

Featured Groups -- 9:55 a.m. to completion of play

• 9:55 a.m. -- Henrik Stenson, Haotong Li
• 11:05 a.m. -- Marc Leishman, Rory McIlroy
• 1:45 p.m. -- Phil Mickelson, Matt Kuchar
• 2:05 p.m. -- Tiger Woods, Ian Poulter

Amen Corner -- 12:30-6 p.m.

Holes 15 & 16 -- 1:30-6:30 p.m.

Simulcast live stream: 3-7 p.m. on Masters.com

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