Scottie Scheffler records a personal-best 65 at the Masters, reenters contention.
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Following his first over-par score at the Masters in three years, which dropped him down the leaderboard on Friday, world No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler made a strong comeback with a career-best round at Augusta National Golf Club on Saturday, positioning himself back in contention.
Scheffler’s bogey-free, 7-under 65 in the third round marked his best performance in 27 rounds at the Masters.
This exceptional round could have been even more impressive had a few additional putts found the hole, but he declined to elaborate when asked about the potential for an even lower score.
“That’s just a terrible question,” Scheffler stated. “Next question. Awful.”
After finishing the 18th hole, Scheffler was five strokes behind defending champion Rory McIlroy, but he felt he had done enough to give himself a chance to secure a third green jacket on Sunday at the 90th Masters.
“It wasn’t maybe that bad, but it definitely could have been lower,” Scheffler remarked. “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, having also been 7 under in the second round of the Open Championship at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland when he claimed his fourth major title in July.
After a 2-over 74 in the second round left him at even par after 36 holes, Scheffler quickly set out to make up ground on Saturday. On the par-5 second hole, he hit his approach to 6 feet and made an eagle putt.
Following four pars, Scheffler concluded the first nine with three consecutive 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 resulted in another eagle.
He turned at 5-under 31.
“I hit it really nice today,” Scheffler commented. “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 on the 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 back nine, sinking an 8-footer on the par-4 11th and a 10-footer on the par-3 16th.
He had additional opportunities 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 just missed another birdie putt on the high side.
“I stroked it really nice,” Scheffler noted. “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 in a difficult position. He punched out to 101 yards, then spun his approach shot back to 9 inches to save par.
On Sunday, Scheffler will need to attempt to win the Masters while coming from behind. In 2022, he entered the final round with a three-stroke lead and won by the same margin. Two years later, he had a one-stroke lead and extended it to four.
He will need to catch up to several of the world’s top golfers to achieve this again.
“I think that’s what great players and great competitors do, is they’re able to rise to the occasion,” Scheffler stated. “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.”
