David Mullin had led the 2015 Green Jacket (Gross) since the 13th hole of the first round. It ended at Quinta da Marinha, at the 13th. A different hole on a different course, sharing only a number, which is the sort of symmetry that consoles nobody standing inside it. Jon Baker moved ahead there. Mullin drew level once more at the 15th, and that was the last encouraging thing to happen to him. He closed with 26 points, his worst round of the tournament and a 10-shot drop from Round 2's 36. Baker's 89 gross was his own course best this TEG.

Gregg Williams held on to his 2015 Trophy lead. He held on to rather less of his cushion, which fell from 11 points to 5. Williams shed 14 shots across holes 8 to 11, a stretch capped by a quintuple bogey 10 at the par-5 11th. His 29 points were a 12-shot fall from a strong Round 2. He still leads. He may prefer not to look behind him. And Baker goes into the weekend out in front of the Green Jacket race.

Stuart Neumann's Round 3 at Quinta da Marinha unravelled early and never recovered. He opened with a 10 at the par-5 1st, a quintuple bogey. Then a double at the 2nd. Then a double at the 3rd. Then a quintuple bogey 9 at the par-4 4th, and a triple at the 5th. Seventeen shots dropped across five holes, with not one net par among them.

There was no respite at the turn. A quintuple bogey 8 came at the par-3 9th. A par-3 taken in 8 is not a golf hole. It is an occupation. An 11 followed at the par-5 10th, a sextuple bogey on one of the course's harder holes, then a double at the 11th. Another three holes, another absence of net pars.

The round produced 20 Stableford points, the worst in the field. His 114 gross equalled the worst score ever recorded at Quinta da Marinha. That record was his own 114, from round one of this TEG. In Round 2 he had posted 31. He remains anchored to the bottom of the 2015 TEG Wooden Spoon standings, his gap to the next-worst player stretched from 8 points to 22. He is no longer losing that race. He is conducting it alone.

Alex Baker's third round at Quinta da Marinha became a survival exercise. The trouble began at the par-5 3rd and showed no interest in leaving. Triple bogeys at the 3rd, 4th and 5th cost nine shots in three holes. A double at the 7th then ran straight into a sextuple-bogey ten at the par-4 8th, the hardest hole on the course. Further double and triple bogeys at the 9th and 10th completed a 13-shot stretch across four holes. The quadruple bogey at the 12th, the second-hardest hole, was almost a formality by then. He stopped the bleeding himself with a birdie at the 17th.

None of it derailed the bigger picture. Baker's gross beat his previous best at Quinta da Marinha, set on his only prior visit, by a single stroke. A personal best, with a ten on the card. That is broadly what progress looks like round here.