Dustin Johnson had one arm in the Green Jacket after charging to a four-shot lead with a near-perfect seven-under-par 65 in the third round at the Masters on Saturday.

Johnson matched Jordan Spieth’s record low Masters total for the first 54 holes — 16-under-par 200 — while South Korean Im Sung-jae (68), Mexican Abraham Ancer (69) and Australian Cameron Smith (69) were tied second on 12-under.

“I’ve got a lot of control of what I’m doing, I’m very comfortable standing over the ball right now and that’s a good feeling,” said a typically-understated Johnson, who grew up just across the state border in Columbia, South Carolina.

Ten players were within one stroke starting the third round, but Johnson was a class apart, in control of every facet of his game as he broke clear with a tap-in eagle at the par-five second after almost holing a five-iron.

He never looked back and did not really miss a green until the final hole, where for the first time all afternoon he was forced to call upon his deft short game to save par.

Only two players have surrendered a bigger 54-hole lead at the Masters — Greg Norman (six shots) in 1996 and Ed Sneed (five shots) in 1979.

Rory McIlroy (2011) and Ken Venturi (1956) could not close the deal with four-stroke cushions.

For all his talent, world No.1 Johnson has only one major title to his credit, the 2016 US. Open, a disappointing haul for a player with all physical attributes necessary for greatness.

A joint runner-up to Tiger Woods here last year, and a perennial Major contender, he will take nothing for granted, but the final Major of an unusual 2020 season is his to win or lose.

“If I can play like I did today I think it will break that streak (of close calls),” he said. “I’ve got a good game plan, I’m not going to change it. As we all know here, if you get it going you can shoot some low scores. I’m going to need to play a really good round if I want to win tomorrow."