Saturday’s early starters showed the leaders that they’ll need to go low to keep pace. Low scores were aplenty at an Augusta National that has been softened by rain.

Patrick Cantlay made the first move, arriving at the 18th tee with a chance to tie the course record. He drove into the bunker left of the fairway, then laid up short of the green. He wedged close before tapping in for an 8-under 64. It was the first time he broke 70 in eight rounds at the Masters.

“Out of all the rounds I’ve played here, this was the easiest scoring condition wise,” he said. “I got out early and the ball was going the right distance, the wind wasn't blowing too much, greens were soft, and the hole locations were much easier than the last few days”

Saturday’s scoring average was more than a stroke under par as the leaders were starting their round. Cantlay went low despite making just one birdie on the par-5s. “I birdied a lot of the hardest holes,” said Cantlay, who ranks 22nd in the FedExCup.

He birdied the first hole, then birdied the two par-3s on the first nine. A birdie at 9 gave him a front-nine 32. He made four more birdies on the second nine (10, 14, 15 and 17).

Cantlay’s score was one short of the course record set by Nick Price (1986) and Greg Norman (1996). Webb Simpson also was 8 under after 17 holes but, like Cantlay, he made par on the final hole.

Simpson played the final 12 holes in 8 under par. It started with four consecutive birdies on Nos. 7-10. He holed a 40-footer for eagle at the 13th hole and birdied Nos. 14 and 16.

It was Simpson’s lowest round at Augusta National by three shots.

When he walked off the golf course, Simpson was tied for the lead with a player who tied an Augusta National record. Tony Finau became the sixth man to shoot 30 on Augusta National’s front nine. He birdied his first three holes, then added another at the par-3 sixth hole. He reached 6 under after tapping in for eagle two holes later. He hit his 261-yard second shot on the eighth hole within inches of the hole.

Finau missed a 10-foot birdie putt on the ninth hole to tie the mark set by Johnny Miller (1975), Greg Norman (1988), K.J. Choi (2004), Phil Mickelson (2009) and Gary Woodland (2014).

Other low scores included a 67 from Henrik Stenson and Bubba Watson, and 68s from amateur Takumi Kanaya and Hideki Matsuyama. Kanaya is the reigning Asia-Pacific Amateur champion. Matsuyama won that tournament twice. Like Kanaya, Matsuyama shot a third-round 68 at his first Masters. Matsuyama was 6 under par for the day before making double on his last hole.