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Mark Schlabach
Multiple Authors
AUGUSTA, Ga. — After his first over-par score at the Masters in three years knocked him down the leaderboard Friday, world No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler rebounded with a career-best round at Augusta National Golf Club on Saturday to climb back into contention.
Scheffler’s bogey-free, 7-under 65 in the third round was his best score in 27 rounds in the Masters.
The career-best round might have been even better if a few more of Scheffler’s putts had fallen, but he wasn’t interested in talking about it after being asked what he felt it could have been.
“That’s just a terrible question,” Scheffler said. “Next question. Awful.”
By the end of the day, Scheffler trailed defending champion Rory McIlroy and Cameron Young by four strokes, but he felt like he had done enough to give himself a chance to win a third green jacket on Sunday at the 90th Masters.
“It wasn’t maybe that bad, but it definitely could have been lower,” Scheffler said. “But like I said, I did what I needed to do. [I] went out and executed to give myself some opportunities. More of that tomorrow, and I think I’ll be in a good spot.”
Scheffler matched his best score to par in a major championship. He was also 7 under in the second round of the Open Championship at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland when he captured his fourth major title in July.
After a 2-over 74 in the second round left him at even par after 36 holes, Scheffler didn’t wait long to make up ground Saturday. On the par-5 second, he hit his approach to 6 feet and sank an eagle putt.
Following four pars, Scheffler closed the first nine with three straight birdies. He made a 7-foot putt on No. 7, a 3-footer on No. 8 and a 4-footer on No. 9. His approach shot on the par-4 ninth hit the cup and nearly went in for another eagle.
He made the turn at 5-under 31.
“I hit it really nice today,” Scheffler said. “I felt like I was very sharp with the irons. Got it up there; gave myself a lot of opportunities. I felt like I took advantage of those on the front nine, and then back nine I did a lot of good things. [I] was really, really close to seeing a lot go in.”
Scheffler made two birdies on the second nine, rolling in an 8-footer on the par-4 11th and a 10-footer on the par-3 16th.
He had more chances to get closer. He narrowly missed an 8-footer for birdie on No. 10. On the par-5 13th, he hit a mud ball into a greenside bunker and settled for par. On the 14th, he barely missed another birdie putt on the high side.
“I stroked it really nice,” Scheffler said. “The greens here are challenging. The margins are small. I mean, I rolled it really nice today. I’d be interested to see what the stats are. I’m sure they’re still positive, but when you have that many birdie looks, I think sometimes you wish they could all go in.”
On the 18th, Scheffler hit his tee shot under a tree on the left side of the fairway, leaving himself an awkward lie. He punched out to 101 yards, and then spun his approach shot back to 9 inches to save par.
On Sunday, Scheffler will have to try to win the Masters while coming from behind. In 2022, he entered the final round leading by three strokes and won by the same margin. Two years later, he had a one-stroke lead and extended it to four.
He’ll have to chase down a handful of the world’s best golfers to do it again.
“I think that’s what great players and great competitors do, is they’re able to rise to the occasion,” Scheffler said. “I think when you look at the biggest tournaments, you’d be hard-pressed to find another tournament that’s bigger than this one, especially for myself.
“When you come here, I think that’s why it’s such a great test. Because not only do you have to conquer this golf course, you have to conquer changing conditions, a difficult country club golf course … but you also have to conquer your nerves as well to get it done around here.”
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