Saturday is Moving Day at the 88th Masters Tournament. This third round didn’t disappoint. A few players made jumps up the leader board, while most of the field tried not to lose ground.
Here are the big things that happened on another difficult and eventful day at Augusta National:
Scottie Scheffler finds his way
There is a reason Scottie Scheffler is the No. 1 player in the world and already owns a Green Jacket. He’s unflappable. Scheffler made a messy double bogey on No. 10. Then bogeyed the 11th hole. How did he respond? He made eagle on the par-5 13th and played his final six holes in 3-under to shoot a gutsy 1-under 71 to enter the final round as the solo leader by one stroke.
He’s got company
Though Scheffler has the lead, there are plenty of players within striking distance. Collin Morikawa, a two-time major champion, is one stroke behind thanks to a 3-under 69. It was just one of two rounds in the 60s on Saturday. (Chris Kirk posted 68 earlier in the day.) Morikawa made it clear very early he was going to make a run. He birdied his first three holes of the day.Max Homa made 17 pars and one bogey to stay in the mix. He is third, two behind Scheffler. Masters rookie Ludvig Åberg is three behind. Bryson DeChambeau, despite struggling on the second nine Saturday, still has a chance. He trails by four, thanks to this bit of magic on the final hole:
Who else made moves?
Xander Schauffele, the highest-ranked player in the world without a major championship, did not make a bogey on a day in which there were plenty of bogeys. His 2-under 70 jumped him up nine spots on the leader board. He is tied for fifth, five strokes behind Scheffler.
“All in all, to go bogey-free today was pretty special,” Schauffele said. “You just want a chance coming down that back nine. Hopefully, I’ll have mine tomorrow.”
That was hard work
On Friday, the wind gusted at 40 mph. Surely, things would get easier on Saturday? Well, not exactly. The scoring average was 74.3. The par-5 15th hole, typically a chance for birdie, played to a 5.1 stroke average. The hole’s scoring average over the 87 previous Masters was 4.776. The 15th has not rendered an eagle all the week, the first time that’s happened in 50 years.
“The course is playing tricky,” Nicolai Højgaard said.
He would know. Højgaard made three straight birdies on Nos. 8, 9 and 10. He was in the lead. Then he made five straight bogeys.
Tiger’s tough day
Tiger Woods struggled on Saturday, shooting his worst round ever at the Masters. A day after setting a record by making his 24th consecutive cut here, he posted a 10-over 82.
“I was not hitting it very good or putting well,” said Woods, who admitted he was tired after grinding his way through 23 holes the day before. “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.”
By Nick Pietruszkiewicz/ Augusta Masters
