Donald - superb Masters debut. (Getty Images)

Luke Donald became just the 10th player in Masters history to eagle the 13th and 15th holes in the same round - and with two late birdies he claimed a share of third place.

It represented the joint ninth best performance ever by an Augusta newcomer.

Donald followed a double-bogey six at the 10th by playing the next six holes in a spectacular six-under for a closing 69 and five-under-par aggregate.

The 27-year-old had been joint second after an opening 68 before dropping back into the pack with a second-round 77, but today he showed why many people think he has the game to win major titles.

He chipped in at the 11th, struck a two-iron to 25 feet at the 13th, chipped in again at the 15th and then almost matched the hole-in-one of South African Trevor Immelman on the 16th.

"It was a great performance," he said after his inward 32 for 69. "I'm very happy and I'll be back next high high in confidence.

"You can always look back at what went wrong, but if someone had said three rounds in the 60s on my debut I would have taken it."

Just two weeks ago, of course, he was joint runner-up in the Players Championship in Florida - golf's unofficial fifth major.

The double earned him over £500,000.