Moving back, then moving up: Scottie Scheffler falls out of Masters lead, then regains it
AUGUSTA. Ga. — The third round of the Masters Tournament is supposed to be moving day.
The idea is to go low, move up the leaderboard and put yourself in position for a run at the green jacket on Sunday. That’s exactly what two-time major champion Collin Morikawa did on Saturday at the Augusta National Golf Club.
Morikawa was the only one to challenge second-round co-leader Scottie Scheffler, who held steady with 1-under-par 71 that included a birdie on No. 18 for a 7-under 209.
Morikawa (69), who won the 2020 PGA Championship and the 2022 British Open, is one shot off the lead of the battle-tested Scheffler, who is going after his second green jacket in three years.
The pair, who are each 27 years old, will go off in the final pairing Sunday at 2:35 p.m.
“It’s going to be a grind and I’m looking forward to it,” Morikawa said.
The players who couldn’t make a charge, but still stayed within striking distance, were Max Homa (73) and Bryson DeChambeau (75), the co-leaders with Scheffler after 36 holes.
Homa went from 67-71 in the first two rounds to 73 on Saturday and is two shots off the lead at 5-under.
Bryson DeChambeau finishes strong with improbable birdie
DeChambeau needed a spectacular birdie on the 18th – holing out from 77 yards out from the fairway after having to chip out with his second shot from the right woods – to shoot 75 after a stretch of which he was 4-over from Nos. 11 to 16, with a double bogey at the par-5 15th. He’s four shots off the lead.
One shot ahead of DeChambeau is rookie Ludvig Aberg, who was tied for the lead at one point on the back nine. He shot 70 and is fourth place, three shots off the lead. Only three players have won the Masters in their first appearance, the last being Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979.
Still in the mix is Xander Schauffele, who has won about everything but a major championship. He shot 70 and is five back.
Conditions at Augusta National remained difficult
The last time there was a winner at single digits under par in the Masters was 2017 when Sergio Garcia won it with 9-under 279.
The wind was down, but Augusta National was still a bear. Only Morikawa and Chris Kirk (68) managed to break 70. The scoring average was 74.300 compared with 75.079 on Friday.
“It’s very challenging. It’s a major championship,” Scheffler said. “I don’t think Augusta National wants their golf course to be easy.”
It certainly wasn’t easy for five-time Masters champion Tiger Woods, who really went the wrong way. After rounds of 73-72 he had 82, his highest score in this tournament by four shots.
After needing 29 and 27 putts in the first two rounds, Woods needed his putter 34 times on Saturday. And after hitting 11 fairways off the tee in the first two rounds, he hit just five in the third.
“The fact is I was not hitting it very good or putting well,” Woods said. “I didn’t have a very good warmup session, and I kept it going all day today. Just hit the ball in all the places that I know I shouldn’t hit it. And I missed a lot of putts. Easy, makable putts. I missed a lot of them.”
Scottie Scheffler battled back with eagle
Because of what he called “ridiculously fast and firm greens” and difficult pin positions, Scheffler struggled until he got to the par-5 13th hole, including a double bogey at No. 10 and a bogey at No. 11. He was 2-over for his round but hit the 13th green in two shots and rolled in a 31-foot eagle putt.
He showed some rare emotion after it hit the bottom of the cup.
“That putt on 13 was nice because it was trickling up towards the cup,” Scheffler said. “I didn’t know whether or not it was going to get there, and it kind of just nudged right over the edge and went in. So it was exciting, and it was nice to be able to steal a couple shots there on 13 and get back in the tournament.”
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Scottie Scheffler birdies the last to take one-shot Masters lead
