AUGUSTA, Ga. — It became a game within the game as Saturday’s Masters third round unfolded into a little bit of back-nine mayhem.

Phil Mickelson was making a charge up the leaderboard and looked like he was poised to snag a spot on the Sunday final pairing with leader Jordan Spieth. When Mickelson finished at 11-under he was in position to be paired with Spieth.

But Justin Rose, playing behind Mickelson, went on a birdie barrage — four in a row from Nos. 13 through 16 — and one more on 18, nudged Mickelson out of the final group. So it will be Rose, at 12-under, paired with Spieth (16-under).

Mickelson will be paired with Charley Hoffman in the second-to-last group, a place he insisted he would rather be.

Asked if he wanted to be in the final group, Mickelson said: “Not if I’m being honest, no. I think in 2011 when I was in the final group watching [Louis] Oosthuizen and Bubba Watson in front of me make birdies, it was a lot harder to follow suit.

“I was hoping to be the group in front and if I can start posting some birdies, I think it’s much more difficult to follow than it is to lead.’’

Rose, who has been a rallying machine this week, continually coming back from poor front nines with big back nines performances, had a different view of the pairing than Mickelson. He wanted it, wanted to be able to stare Spieth down from up close.

“Given the choice, you’d want to be in the last group,’’ Rose said. “You want to be seeing what you’re up against. You want to feel the atmosphere. You want to get a look at how the guys play next to you, especially when you get to 12, 13, 14, 15 on the back nine.

“If you’re within one or two, you know if you have to chase or if you can still be patient, whereas if you’re in the group in front, you don’t know what the leader is going to do. You’ve got to maybe take a shot on because you think they are going to hit a good shot. In hindsight, maybe you didn’t need to take on a specific shot. So I think it’s always an advantage to be in the final group.’’