Scheffler leads fascinating field for compelling final Masters round

Scottie Scheffler celebrates after a birdie on the 18th hole during third round at the Masters. Picture: AP Photo/Ashley Landis

A fiery Augusta National has delivered a compelling Masters, and a fascinating field is lined up to be chasing two major champions on Sunday.

Scottie Scheffler rebounded late and Collin Morikawa charged out of the gate to sit first and second heading to the final round that’s traditionally set up for a shootout.

Scheffler, the 2022 champion, played a perfect last hole to polish off a volatile 71 and claim his second 54-hole lead in the Masters. Morikawa, the 2020 PGA and 2021 Open champion, birdied the first three holes to climb to 6-under and finished on that mark with a 69.

Lined up in one-shot increments behind them are Max Homa (5-under), Ludvig Åberg (4-under) and Bryson DeChambeau (3-under) with Xander Schauffele, Nicolai Højgaard and Cameron Davis at 2-under and within five shots of the leader.

How everyone made it to those finishing numbers was a pretty wild ride of contrasting fortunes with back nine heroics and calamities that saw six players claim at least a share of the lead in the final two hours.

Let’s start with the two-ball of Scheffler and Højgaard. The world No. 1 turned to the back on 7-under with a one-shot lead after dropping birdie bombs with a chip-in from 32 yards on 1 and putt from 34 feet on 3. But he made a mess on No. 10 after sailing his approach over the flag and the green that led to a rare double bogey by the strokes gained master.

That became a three-shot swing when Højgaard drained a 48-footer for his third straight birdie to suddenly vault the Danish rookie into the lead. That height made the 23-year-old dizzy, as he subsequently bogeyed the next five consecutive holes 11-15 before collecting himself to par his way home.

“At the moment, it’s all over the place,” he said of his mindset after the tumultuous inbound 40. 

“But I've got to regroup, got to go out and do my best tomorrow. … We try to stop the bleeding a little bit. Sometimes … if I knew how to do it, I probably would have done it.” 

Scheffler added another bogey at 11 and suddenly looked vulnerable. But he recovered a share of the lead with a 31-footer for eagle that tumbled over the rim and elicited a couple fist pumps. Another birdie at 15 pushed him in front before giving it back at 17 and seizing it again at 18.

“You know, things happen pretty fast out there,” said Scheffler.

“So all of a sudden, I go from being probably in the lead to out of the lead. And Ted (Scott, his caddie) does a good job of keeping us focused on the task at hand, and we did a good job of keeping ourselves in the tournament today.

“It was nice to be able to steal a couple shots there on 13 and get back in the tournament.” 

The DeChambeau experience over the final nine was worth staying up late to watch. He reclaimed a lead share with a birdie at 10 before promptly bogeying 11 and 12 and settling for par on 13. But when he sank a 23-footer for birdie at 14 he was eager to push Scheffler and Morikawa in front of him.

Then it almost fell entirely apart. Blocked out by trees after his drive on 15, DeChambeau tried to be the hero and sling a hook over the water into the greenside bunker, but the ball never turned and sailed so far right he was almost in the 17th fairway. He paid dearly for his aggressiveness, chunking his pitch into the pond after getting a break with line-of-sight relief and ultimately making double after another poor chip.

A three-putt on 16 for bogey had DeChambeau reeling and he compounded that with another bogey on 17 to an inaccessible pin placement. The LIV star seemed ready to check out entirely when a poor drive on 18 force him to punch out from under a magnolia tree and scramble to fall further off the leaderboard. But then he holed out from 77 yards for birdie to flip his outlook entirely and get within a four-shot shout of the lead.

“You just have to stay positive no matter what,” said DeChambeau, who looked anything but positive until his hole-out resuscitated his hopes with a jolt. 

“I had a great break on 18. I’ll take that any day of the week.” 

Åberg, the gifted Swede who Shane Lowry calls a “future world No. 1,” steadily rose to claim his share of the lead in his major championship debut with his fourth birdie of the day at 13. But like fellow rookie Højgaard he spit the bit with his only two bogeys of the day on 14 and 15.

“I feel very fortunate to be in this position and to be here playing golf,” said Åberg of embracing his opportunity to make history. “Yes, I don’t think you should shy away from it. I don’t think you should try to push it away.

Homa, who shared the 36-lead with Scheffler and DeChambeau, made 17 pars and a lone bogey on 12 to lurk two back. The five-time PGA Tour winner is hanging around despite not making a birdie since his fourth hole Friday.

“Hard, very patient. I would say frustrating at times, but also really, really pleased with it,” Homa said of his round stuck in relative neutral. “I don't know what more I could have done. Could I have seen some putts go in, but I don’t hate how I putt.” Homa career-best major finish was a T10 in the 150th Open. He’s curious to see how he handles his first real knock.

“If I catch myself thinking about what could go wrong, I let myself dream about what could go right,” he said. “I don't know what’s going to happen tomorrow. I didn’t know what was going to happen today.

“If you told me I made no birdies today, I would have thought I imploded. You just kind of go with the flow. I let myself go both ways. Once I’m playing, I’m very present.” After Morikawa blazed up the board at the jump, he made bogey at 6 and birdie at 8 and finished with a succession of 10 consecutive pars to book a spot in the final pairing with a 69 that was only bettered by Chris Kirk’s 68 on Saturday. He’s the only player to post three straight rounds under par – 71-70-69.

He’s naturally chuffed for the chance to win a green jacket and head to the U.S. Open in June with a chance to complete the career slam at age 27.

“At the end of the day, I know where my head is at,” Morikawa said. “I know what I need to focus on, and I know what needs to be done if I want to close it off tomorrow.” -30-