It was Hideki Matsuyama who made the biggest moves, with an excellent 65 and climbed to the bottom of the standings at 11, four shots from Justin Rose, Xander Schauffele, Will Zalatoris and Marc Leishman.
In a round without five birds and an eagle, Matsuyama went between 15 and 17 eagle bird-birds to extend his lead.
Aiming to become the first Japanese man to win a major, Matsuyama was composed in all phases of his game. But it was his skill with his irons that gave him an edge when he carefully analyzed the course.
“I played well today,” he told reporters. “My game plan has been executed and hopefully I can continue my good form tomorrow.”
After the interval due to the inclement weather, the greens became much slower and made their players golf more consistently.
Matsuyama, whose best finish on the Masters in 2015 when he finished fifth, took advantage and consistently performed with remarkable results.
The world no. 25 had barely stray shots and stabbed an important eagle on the 15th hole to take the lead ahead of Rose, twice a runner-up on Augusta.
England’s Rose, who led all weekend before being crowned by Matsuyama, looked steady and assured as other players pushed them to join him at the top.
He opened on Saturday with two birdies, but his positive start was soon canceled out in the fourth and fifth ways by bogeys.
A birdie on the 12th and thug on the 16th made him end the day when he started at 7-under, although this time he had a lot of company around him on the leaderboard.
Masters debutant Zalatoris continued to impress despite his lack of experience at Augusta National, and the 24-year-old American hit four birdies to keep hoping for an unlikely victory.
Also the Australian Leishman, who carded 70 on the third day, and the American Shauffele, who closed with a 68 on the 15th, also hunted.
2015 champion Champion Jordan Spieth, who kicked off the PGA Tour for the first time since 2017 last week, once again took a look at his return to his best, with some outrageous chips and glamorous holes to contend with to enter.
After a double thug on the seventh, the three-time big winner hit a high chip on the eighth hole of the trees to land near the pin and on the 10th cut to bring him into contention again.