"My plan is to go out and do the same, but I think there's going to be a few guys trying to mess up with my plan"
Sunday 14 April 2019 14:46, UK
Francesco Molinari has no intention of changing his gameplan for the final round of the Masters after opening up a two-shot lead after 54 holes.
The Italian started the third round in a five-way tie for the lead on seven under and pulled clear of the field on 13-under 203 with a flawless six-under 66.
After parring the first five holes, he birdied the sixth and eighth and then made his decisive move with four successive birdies from the 12th as he confidently rolled in the putts.
The Open champion has now gone 43 holes since his last bogey at the 11th in the first round and, remarkably, he has made only six bogeys in his last 163 holes in majors.
"Obviously very, very happy again," said Molinari, who carded a 67 on Friday.
"I thought maybe I played slightly better yesterday, but today, mentally was very good. Made two big putts on four and five to save pars, and then kind of got going from there.
"Played the back nine probably as good as I've ever played over here, so really pleased about that. And then obviously a good save on 18. So nice to keep another clean scorecard.
"My plan for tomorrow is to go out and do the same, but I think there's going to be a few guys trying to mess up with my plan."
Molinari will be alongside Tiger Woods and Tony Finau, who are both on 11 under, in the final round, the start times for which have been brought forward due to the threat of thunderstorms.
Woods was also paired with Molinari in the final round of last year's Open, but the Italian does not believe his success that day will have any impact this time.
"Every tournament is different, and every time is a different story," he said.
"He obviously loves this place, and he's playing great golf. So I'm aware that it's not going to be easy tomorrow, and I can just do my best.
"But it's not like I can only worry about him. There's a lot of guys I think in with a chance. We've seen in the past year that a few shots' lead really doesn't mean too much, and we've seen today that you can shoot seven‑, eight‑under the way the course is playing.
"I think there's a lot more guys with a chance.
"I'll just try to enjoy tomorrow as much as possible, and again, do my best, shot by shot, don't get ahead of myself and see what happens."
Final round coverage will now begin at 1pm (BST) on Sky Sports Golf, with full live coverage starting at 2pm.
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