<p>AUGUSTA, Ga. — Japan has been sending golfers to the Masters since 1936, with about three dozen players combining for well over 100 appearances at Augusta National.</p>
<p>And none had ever finished a round atop the leaderboard.</p>
<p>Until Saturday.</p>
<p>Hideki Matsuyama’s four-shot lead going into Sunday’s final round of the Masters is a breakthrough moment for Japan, which became the 17th nation to see one of its players hold a lead after any round at Augusta National.</p>
<p>The others, per the Masters: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, England, Fiji, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Northern Ireland, Scotland, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the United States, Wales and Zimbabwe.</p>
<p>It was 10 years ago when Matsuyama became the first Asia-Pacific Amateur champion to make the cut and be the low amateur at the Masters. He was the second-lowest amateur finisher to Patrick Cantlay in the Masters field the following year.</p>
<p>Here’s something else to note going into the final round: on two previous occasions, Matsuyama has posted the low fourth-round score at the Masters.</p>
<p>NO LANGUAGE BARRIER</p>
<p>Xander Schauffele is from San Diego. Hideki Matsuyama is from Japan, and needs a translator to help with his interview sessions with English-speaking media.</p>
<p>That doesn’t mean Schauffele and Matsuyama can’t talk on the course.</p>
<p>They were paired in the third round on Saturday and Schauffele — whose grandparents lived in Japan — knows a little bit of the language.</p>
<p>“I know a little bit of Japanese,” Schauffele said. “I threw my few words in here and there. Just some proper words. Some bad ones, too.”</p>
<p>He can practice his Japanese a little more on Sunday as well. Schauffele and Matsuyama are the final group at the Masters, going off at 2:40 p.m.</p>
<p>“It was really enjoyable playing with Xander today,” Matsuyama said. “We didn’t get a chance to talk a lot, but when we did, we exchanged some good Japanese jokes and had a good laugh.”</p>
<p>HORSCHEL’S SLIDE</p>
<p>Billy Horschel went into the water on the 13th hole at the Masters on Saturday.</p>
<p>He also went onto his backside.</p>
<p>Horschel took a slip-and-slide trip to blooper-reel immortality in the third round at Augusta National, after playing his second shot on the par-5 13th into the water — a tributary of Rae’s Creek.</p>
<p>He removed his shoes and his socks, rolled up the legs of his white pants to his calves, surveyed the situation and then made his way barefoot down a slope toward the water. He slipped on the way, his feet going out from under him and he landed on his butt.</p>
<p>That drew a laugh from the patrons. So did his immediate reaction — turning toward playing partner Phil Mickelson to assess the damage.</p>
<p>Horschel asked Mickelson if there was a grass stain.</p>
<p>Mickelson’s response, as Horschel recalled: “Yeah, there’s one there. Sorry, buddy.”</p>
<p>Horschel played his third out of the water to well above the hole, put his shoes and socks back on and two-putted for a par that was anything but routine.</p>
<p>“He hit one of the best shots I’ve ever seen,” Mickelson said. “There were two balls in the water that I was looking at, one was half submerged, one was fully submerged. I thought for sure his ball was the one half submerged. Uh-nuh, he went after that ball fully submerged and got that thing out. It was an incredible golf shot.”</p>
<p>Mickelson had a famous slip at a major once, too. He intentionally slipped down a steep dune during the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits in 2015.</p>
<p>It wasn’t the first time Horschel ended up on his backside during a tournament.</p>
<p>This particular story has become part of golf lore: Bay Hill in 2013, Horschel had been getting ribbed by Tiger Woods all week about his leaping ability, so Horschel saw a cooler on the driving range and attempted to jump atop it. As he went airborne, he saw that the cooler’s lid wasn’t exactly on securely.</p>
<p>Disaster ensued. Horschel went flying.</p>
<p>“Tiger was on the ground laughing for a good minute and a half,” Horschel said.</p>
<p>RAIN DELAY</p>
<p>Play was suspended because of severe weather in the area around 4 p.m. Saturday, and rain began to fall not long afterward.</p>
<p>The delay lasted 1 hour, 18 minutes.</p>
<p>It was the first rain of the week at Augusta National. More than half of the Masters tournaments — now 46 out of 85 — have seen some rain.</p>
<p>This became the third consecutive year that the Masters got suspended by weather. There wasn’t a single delay or suspension in the 10 tournaments from 2009 through 2018.</p>
<p>MONEY MATTERS</p>
<p>For the third consecutive year, the Masters champion will take home $2.07 million.</p>
<p>The Masters on Saturday released the breakdown of how the $11.5 million purse will be distributed this year, and first prize this year matches what Tiger Woods received for his win in 2019 and what Dustin Johnson got last year.</p>
<p>If someone finishes in sole possession of second place, he’ll receive $1.242 million — which would be the biggest prize in Masters history going to a non-winner. Runner-ups Sungjae Im and Cameron Smith got $1.012 million apiece last year; the Masters record for runner-ups is $1,188,000, won by Rickie Fowler in 2018 and Justin Rose in 2017.</p>
<p>Third prize, if claimed outright, would be worth $782,000; fourth, $552,000 and fifth, $460,000. For the record, 50th place is still a nice check: $28,980.</p>
<p>CONSISTENCY</p>
<p>Jon Rahm and Mackenzie Hughes have signed for the same score in each of the first three rounds at the Masters: 72 each day.</p>
<p>They’ve got chances at a Masters rarity.</p>
<p>Only four players in Masters history — Walter Hagen in 1939, Lew Worsham in 1954, Kenny Knox in 1987 and George Archer in 1989 — shot the same score in all four rounds of the tournament. Hagen had four 76s, Worsham four 74s, Knox and Archer four 75s.</p>
<p>Even though his scores have been the same, Rahm says his play has gotten better as the week has gone along.</p>
<p>“The first day was by far the worst day golf-wise,” Rahm said Saturday. “I was able to get a lot of up and downs. Yesterday somewhat similar to today, just nothing that happened. And same thing today. I’m hitting good shots, and it’s just not happening.”</p>
<p>There were two other players in the chance to join the four-of-a-kind club.</p>
<p>Brian Harman shot 69 in the first round and 69 in the second round, but shot 74 on Saturday. Michael Thompson opened with rounds of 72-72, then went to 75 in his third round.</p>
<p>THEY SAID IT</p>
<p>Masters leader Hideki Matsuyama, when told Saturday that he has 10 rounds of par or better in his career at Augusta National: “Hopefully I can make it 11 tomorrow.”</p>
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