Lee Westwood birdies the 18th to continue his heartening revival. His round of 71 moves him to one over and a tie of 12th place. Six shots behind Spieth.

Spieth to attack the flag first....not enough juice. Ball clings to green desperately, rolling back towards the slope, eventually stopping about 35-foot from the pin. Follow that Rory. That he does almost to the letter. His ball holds on for dear life, like a scared kid on a playground ride, stopping a few feet inside Spieth's.

Peter Alliss
BBC Sport commentator live on BBC Two at Augusta

"The wind is dropping, the natives are getting excited and why not.

"Two birdies in a row for Day and a monster putt."

Image source, EPA

Jason Day is making his move on Moving Day. He holes a huge 60-footer on 14 to move to one-under par. He's alongside Rory and is just four behind Spieth.

Much better from Rory. His driving has been more erratic than my grandad's...whoosh, straight down the middle from the ninth tee-box. Spieth has been a bit scratchy off the peg too, again pushing his opener slightly right. A short iron apiece to the pin.... 

-5: Spieth (8)

-2: Matsuyama (9)

-1: Piercy (8) McIlroy (8)

Selected others: Par: Langer (13) Day (13), D Johnson (12), Willett (10) +1: Westwood (18) +2: DeChambeau (a) Wood (15) +3: Rose (18) +4: Casey (14) +5: Garcia (10) Donaldson (18) Lowry (11).

McIlroy finds the top tier of the eighth green...ooh err, his long birdie putt is lacking oomph. Jingle, jangle...nervy one to save par...phew! Canned it.

But his relief is shortlived. That's because Spieth is four feet away from edging further ahead. No problemo. Somebody rein him in...

JavelBleach: McIlroy's demons - he thinks it's a battle with Spieth but it's a battle with himself, and he's losing. 

Iain Clark: Rory's game is so frustrating today. He's just not there today

Tom Henderson: Speith showing Rory that he needs a better short game to win at Augusta.

Image source, EPA

Only a handful of fellas are beating that aggressive Augusta wind today...here's one of them. Hideki Matsuyama launches a wonderful second shot at the 10th flag. Tweet, tweet...birdie chance...  

Spieth spanks his wood up the fairway, staying close to that right-hand rail. Rory plants his feet in the sand, mid-iron in hand. He reintroduces ball with grass, still a long iron short of a green in reg. Not purring yet...

Peter Alliss
BBC Sport commentator live on BBC Two at Augusta

"Spieth is getting away with it but McIlroy really is not at his best at the moment."

Image source, Getty Images

Andrew Cotter
BBC commentator live on BBC Two at Augusta

"Spieth is hitting it all over the shop but getting it up and down."

Righto then...onto the eighth tee. Spieth retains the honour...a few 'ooohs' as he pushes the big dog right. Next up...you know who. He's gone the same way! Rory's bringing the spade out..he's hit the fairway bunker.

Billy Horschel on BBC Two talking about his moment of drama on the 15th:

"I was playing a really good round and had the chance to finish strongly. I hit a decent shot over the water, and the ball was eight feet below the hole. 

"I put the ball down and was lining up the putt. Next I know a gust came and blew the ball, and it caught the slope into water. I played really well today, who knows what would have happened if I made birdie there.

"It is an unfortunate situation. These things happen - you can get bad luck."

Paul Azinger
1993 PGA Championship winner on BBC TV

"That has got to be a bit of a shock to McIlroy's system."

Sloppy from the grand slam-chasing Holywood hero, sliding a birdie putt just past the left side of the hole and then pushing the par putt the same side. 

Hello, Hideki on the charge, birdieing the eighth. No Japanese player has ever won a major. Could this be the weekend?

Image source, Getty Images

Brandt Snedeker with a beauty from the back of the green, firing in a putt that was going all the way to Atlanta if it hadn't hit the hole.

Adam Scott, the 2013 Masters champion, after struggling to a three-over 75 to finish 12 strokes off the early pace on seven over, had this to say.

"It's so brutally difficult out there, there's no birdie opportunities and it's just a scramble all day. The greens are so, so tough. They're so fast ... blustery conditions, it's just impossible to really control the ball."

Image source, Getty Images

Our leader has got lucky with his drive, the ball rebounding into the pine needles. Branch or two in front of him, and he'll take a lofted club and hope he can bend this in and round... nope, can't quite conjure it, and he's in one of the deepest traps on the course there.