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Former Razorback in top 10 entering final day of The Masters

Former Hog sits high on the leaderboard with 18 holes to play

Daniel Shi

Nicolas Echavarria plays from the fairway on the fifth green during the third round of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.
Nicolas Echavarria plays from the fairway on the fifth green during the third round of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club. / Peter Casey-Imagn Images
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AUGUSTA, Ga. — The 54-hole Masters leaderboard has some Arkansas flair on it.

Former Razorback Nicolas Echavarria, representing Columbia, sits eight shots behind the leader Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy heading into Sunday at 4-under.

Echavarria shot 3-under, 69 with four birdies and a bogey on moving day to push himself into a four-way tie for tenth. He is making his Masters debut and is just the fourth player in the tournament's history to represent Colombia.

After shooting an opening round 73, Echavarria bounced back with back-to-back rounds under par, building on a 2-under, 70 on Friday.

Nicolas Echavarria plays his shot from the fifth tee during the first round
Nicolas Echavarria plays his shot from the fifth tee during the first round of the Masters Tournament. / Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

Before turning pro in 2017, Echavarria spent 2013-2016 with the Razorbacks and was an All-American in 2013. He also holds the Razorback record for the lowest round in school history at the NCAA Tournament, shooting a -6 under, 64 in the second round of the 2012-13 season.

He already has some hardware at Augusta, winning the Par 3 Contest on Wednesday, beating J.J Spaun in a playoff.

Since joining the PGA Tour at the start of the 2022-23 season, he's won two titles. Echavarria picked up his first title at the 2023 Puerto Rico Open and is currently ranked 41st in the world with a top-10 finish this season.

Echavarria will have plenty of names to navigate if he wants to make a serious push higher up the leaderboard. Bryson DeChambeau sits two off the lead at -10. Canada's Corey Conners sits a further two shorts back at -8.

Other names lurking ahead of Echavarria include world No.1 Scottie Scheffler and Sweden's Ludvig Aberg.

He will tee off for the final round alongside world No.3 Xander Schauffele at -5 at 12:40 p.m (1:40 p.m local time). Final round coverage will be on CBS.

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Daniel Shi
DANIEL SHI

Covers baseball, football and basketball for Arkansas Razorback on SI since 2023, previously writing for FanSided. Currently a student at the University of Arkansas. He’s been repeatedly jaded by the Los Angeles Angels since 2014. Probably silently humming along to whatever the band is playing in the press box. Follow me on X: @dsh12

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