In an exhausting third round, Tiger Woods shot his lowest score ever at the Masters, dropping him out of the running entirely. Scottie Scheffler, aiming for his second career green jacket, leads by one shot heading into the final round.
The rolling course of Augusta proved infamously difficult even in the absence of the stormy winds that battered the course on Saturday. Only Collin Morikawa, the leader, carded a score under 70; his 69 moved him to six under for the tournament and second place, one shot behind Scheffler.
A day after his epic 23-hole round on Friday, Woods struggled to a 10-over par 82 for the round, breaking the record for the most consecutive cuts made at the Masters, a tournament he has won five times.
Making just his third competitive start since hobbling out of the Masters last year, and still dealing with the effects of leg injuries he sustained in a 2021 car crash, Woods told reporters afterward that Friday had physically exhausted him.
“I wasn’t putting or hitting the ball very well. Simply strike the ball wherever I know it shouldn’t be hit. I also squandered a lot of putts. Simple, able putts,” he remarked.
Even though he had the worst performance of the tournament, the 15-time major winner declared he was “ready” for the championship round.
A few of the tournament’s most memorable final rounds—Woods’ thrilling win in 2019; Charl Schwartzel’s string of birdies in 2011 following Rory McIlroy’s collapse; and Gary Player’s incredible comeback in 1978—have become legendary.
And it appears that this edition will add to that list as a thrilling final day approaches, with five players at the top of the leaderboard separated by just four shots after showing signs of weakness during the attritional third round.
Even the top player in the world, Scheffler, who is currently at seven under par, made double bogeys on the 10th and 11th holes before partially recovering with an eagle on the 13th.
Max Homa, who shared the lead at the start of the day and finished two shots behind Scheffler, shot just one birdie and ended up one over par on the 12th hole. The other leader at the beginning of the day, Bryson DeChambeau, shot a three-over 75 to fall to fifth, four shots behind.
Scheffler told reporters, “It was extremely difficult again today.” Homa, realizing the skill needed to navigate the conditions, described his round as “frustrating at times but also really, really pleased with it.”
Two-time major winner Morikawa, meanwhile, had a better day, finishing three shots back in second place with a three-under 69.Ludvig Åberg, a rookie at the Masters, finished the day with a two-under 69. Since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979, no novice has emerged victorious in the competition.
On Sunday, the final round will start at 9:15 a.m. ET, with Scottie Scheffler and Collin Morikawa’s final pairing starting at 2:35 p.m. ET.
