Birdie run keeps Tommy Fleetwood in Masters hunt

The calm and steady Tommy Fleetwood doesn’t let much get to him on the golf course.

“I think traffic last night,” said Fleetwood, when asked the last time he was angry.

Driving around Augusta may irk the 27-year-old from England, but maneuvering inside the gates of Augusta National Golf Club is a different matter.

Fleetwood reeled off five consecutive birdies on the second nine Saturday to put himself in the conversation entering the final round of the Masters Tournament. He sits 6-under after carding 6-under-par 66.

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“Today, it was just about doing the best I could,” he said. “First weekend I’ve ever played at Augusta, I wasn’t thinking about the lead. Clearly I got a lot closer and it was nice to play those last few holes with adrenaline.”

After staking his claim around even par throughout the first two days, Fleetwood was doing more of the same on the first nine Saturday with a birdie and seven pars over the first eight holes. An approach to five feet for birdie on No. 9 sent him to 2-under.

Fleetwood missed a seven-footer for a rare birdie on 11 but bounced back on 12 by draining a 24-foot birdie putt. Finding the bottom of the cup on the famous hole set the run of the day in motion.

After a birdie on 13, he knocked his approach on 14 to 2 feet for birdie. He followed with another par-5 birdie on 15 and hit it to 7 feet for the same on 16. By the time he walked to the 17th tee, he was 7-under and only a few shots behind leader Patrick Reed.

Despite a three-putt bogey on 18, he finished two birdies shy of the consecutive-birdie streak at the Masters.

“The front nine was sort of steady, but I played great from the get go,” Fleetwood said. “It was nice to hole one at 12 and get on that little bit of a run. It’s sort of strange to come off 66 disappointed, but it was a great day.”