Rickie Fowler rides hot putter to first bogey-free round at Masters

No one's making more long putts at Augusta National this week than Rickie Fowler.

He's banking on the putter staying hot and his nerves cool as he sets his sights on leader Patrick Reed in Sunday's final round of the Masters.

Fowler leads the Masters field in the most putts made of 20 feet or longer, and two of them set the tone Saturday for his first bogey-free card in 29 career Masters rounds. Fowler dropped a 25-footer for eagle at No. 2 and a 42-footer for birdie at No. 5, and he went on to match the tournament's low round of 65.

The four-time PGA Tour winner is in third place at 9-under-par 207, five shots behind Reed and two behind Rory McIlroy. Fowler added shorter birdie rolls at Nos. 6, 15 and 17, and had a 19-footer for birdie at No. 8.

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"The course, obviously softened up a little bit and the green speed was a bit down," said Fowler, who needed only 26 putts. "It seemed like they were just a great speed to make putts. You still had to put yourself in the proper positions. I did a good job of managing my way around the golf course and giving myself proper looks."

Fowler understands what he's up against: starting out five shots in arrears to Reed, who appears unshakable.

"I'm five back but it's definitely well within striking distance," he said. "This tournament really gets going once you make the turn on Sunday. So I still have to go out and take care of business and go play a solid  front nine of golf tomorrow. I'm a little ways back. It's going to be a tough task."

Fowler's made up that kind of ground before in a big tournament. He was six shots off the lead with five holes to play at the 2015 Players Championship, and played those holes at 5-under at the TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course. It was enough to get him in a playoff, and he won after four extra holes over Kevin Kisner and Sergio Garcia.

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"Tomorrow's a chance for us to do something pretty cool," Fowler said.

Fowler also is hoping for a better result than last year's Masters, when he also was five shots behind the leaders, Garcia and Justin Rose. Fowler shot 76 and faded to a tie for 11th.

He said it's a matter of striking a balance between risk and reward.

"Sticking to what we've been doing well all week and not necessarily getting any more defensive or aggressive," he said. "We're ready to do that."