Scottie Scheffler leads after back-nine drama in third round of 88th Masters

Posse of players topped scoreboard before world No 1 showed his class over closing stretch

If this was a taste of what’s in store on the back nine in the final round of the 88th Masters on Sunday, then bring it on.

Over that stretch in the penultimate circuit, a somewhat flat moving day exploded into life and, boy, did it deliver some excitement.

After a three-shot swing over playing partner Scottie Scheffler at the tenth, Dane Nicolai Hojgaard suddenly jumped to the top of the leaderboard.

Scottie Scheffler reacts after making birdie on the 18th green during the third round of the 2024 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club. Picture: Warren Little/Getty Images.

The wind was then taken out of his sails by five straight bogeys and he’ll need to regroup as he bids to become the first rookie to claim a Green Jacket since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979.

At one point in his bogey run, a posse of players shared the lead on six under, including Swede Ludvig Aberg on his major debut. He’s still in the mix despite two late bogeys.

Collin Morikawa, the 2021 Open champion, is also in the hunt after rediscovering his major mojo, as are Max Home and Bryson DeChambeau, who took some of the sting out of a sore 7 at the 15th by holing out from 77 yards for a closing birdie.

The man they are all trying to chase down, though, in the final 18 holes is Scheffler, the winner two years ago and showing why he’s being likened to Tiger Woods more and more.

After chipping in at the first then making another birdie at the third from the trees, the world No 1 then had a spell that he described as a “little dicey”. But, after making a mess of that tenth hole, it was impressive stuff thereafter from the Dallas-based player.

He celebrated rolling in a 34-footer for an eagle-3 at the 13th with a triple fist pump and delivered another one after holing a slippery eight-footer down the slope to finish with a 3.

Signing for a 71 to sit on seven under, Scheffler leads by one from Morikawa (69), with Home (73) one further back then Aberg (70) and DeChambeau (75) on four and three under respectively.

Olympic champion Xander Schauffele isn’t out of it either after a 70 - his first bogey-free effort here - but Scheffler is the man to beat. When Arnold Palmer won this event in 1960, it was his second Green Jacket and ninth all-time tour win and the 54-hole leader now has a chance to match both those feats.

“Proud of how I played today,” said Scheffler, who is close to becoming a dad for the first time, with wife Meredith having stayed at home ahead of her due date at the end of the month.

“It was a good fight out there. The golf course was extremely challenging. The greens were very firm, very fast, and it was extremely difficult again today. So probably looking for more of the same tomorrow.”

He’s won the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players Championship in recent weeks and leads the PGA Tour in greens in regulation, strokes gained approach and scoring average.

With all due respect, those in the chasing pack have their work cut out because Scheffler is indeed Tiger-esque when he hits the front.

“It's nice to have that experience,” he said of that win in 2022, when he led by three shots at the same stage, “but going into tomorrow, that's really all that it is. This is a position I'm very familiar with. I'm excited for the challenge of going and trying to win the golf tournament tomorrow.

“But, at the end of the day, it's all about my process and trying to stay patient out there and hit all my shots and hit quality putts as well.”

Hojgaard, a member of Europe’s Ryder Cup-winning team last year along with Aberg, is aiming to shake off that late run of bogeys.“We try to stop the bleeding a little bit,” he said. “If I knew how to do it, I probably would have done it. But I've got to regroup. There's been a lot of good stuff.”

As for Aberg, he’s excited to be in with a chance to pull off a dream debut in the game’s biggest events, having already won on both the PGA Tour and DP World Tour since leaving the amateur ranks less than a year ago.

“Yeah, obviously keep an eye on the leaderboard and see where we're at,” he said, looking forward to the final day. “Yeah, obviously you can't really play Augusta in a different way even though you have to.

“I think you're never trying to force anything. You're always trying to put yourself in the right positions and try to make the putts. I think that's what we're going to try to do tomorrow even if we're tied for the lead or two back or four back, I guess.”