Scottie Scheffler’s lead was six at one point. Now it’s been cut to three, with Cameron Smith coming at him with a fine 68. What threatened to turn into a procession is now anything but. Scheffler is still strong favourite for the green jacket tomorrow, but history shows how quickly things can change at Augusta. Hey, the last couple of hours alone show that. Hope you’ll join us for the real start of the tournament, when Scheffler and Smith hit the turn on Sunday afternoon. Should be a cracker. Thanks for reading. Nighty night!
-9: Scheffler
-6: Smith
-4: Im
-2: Lowry, Schwartzel
-1: Thomas, Conners
E: Willett
+1: Fleetwood, Kokrak, McIlroy, Morikawa, D Johnson
+2: Champ, Simpson, Zalatoris, Matsuyama
Scheffler tidies up for his bogey, and that sets the seal on a 71 that could have been better … but could also have been a whole lot worse. Four bogeys coming back home, which will give him pause when he imagines the pressures of the back nine tomorrow … but maybe the calm way in which he dealt with the drama on 18 and limited the damage will stand him in good stead. He’s been through the wringer, and has come out the other side with a three-stroke lead! He’s -9.
Scheffler elects to putt up the bank and onto the green. There’s 40 feet between his ball and the hole. He taps it up carefully, the left-to-right swinger never looking like going in, but that’s not really the point. It’s all about damage limitation, and he’s left with a two-footer coming back for his bogey. Schwartzel takes his two putts for a one-over 73. He ends the day at -2.
Back to Scheffler, who drops two club lengths away from where his ball nestled in the bush. Now it’s on the pine straw to the left of the fairway. He draws a long iron from his holster and whistles an amazing third towards the flag … but over the back of the green. If he holes the chip coming back, it’ll be a par for the ages!
While he goes about his business, Charl Schwartzel is asked to play on … if he likes, that is. He does like. And he very much likes the sprinkler head that stops his ball falling down the bank to the left of the green. He’ll be able to putt from 25 feet.
They’ve found Scheffler’s Titleist in the middle of a thicket. Scheffler calls for the rules official. Looks like he’s going to take an unplayable. Out comes the driver so he can measure two club lengths.
While the officials look for Scheffler’s ball in the bushes down the left of 18 … here’s something to while away the time.
Charl Schwartzel can’t make his par putt, and that’s his fourth bogey in seven holes. Nothing’s gone his way since holing out from 130 yards on 10. The golfing gods have been paid back and then some. Scottie Scheffler rolls in his birdie putt, and the lead once again is four … though he then sends a wild hook into the trees down the left of 18. He’ll be in the lap of the gods there, too. Did he use up his chunk of luck when he only just got over that bunker to set up his birdie on the last?
-10: Scheffler (17)
-6: Smith (F)
-4: Im (F)
-2: Lowry (F), Schwartzel (17)
Charl Schwartzel leaves his 60-foot birdie putt across 17 well short. He’s got something to think about there. While he ponders it, Shane Lowry pars the last for a one-over 73; he’s -2 overall, and is rubbing his forehead in frustration. His partner Im Sung-jae splashes out of the sand on the right to three feet, and taps in for par. A 71, and it’s a round of two halves all right: 39 out, 32 back. He’s -4.
Scheffler could be forgiven for rocking after a difficult run of holes. But having split the 17th fairway, he lands his approach on the shoulder of the bunker to the left of the green, allowing the topography to bring his ball around to five feet! Now then, that might have been a slight pull and a lucky bounce … or it’s a work of genius, and this young man has hit enough amazing shots for one to suspect the latter. What a shot! Schwartzel meanwhile finds the heart of the green, a decent shot in and of itself, but in this context, six shots adrift, no good.
The defending champion Hideki Matsuyama gets up and down from the left of 18 for par. Sadly it’s a 77. He never got going today. Neither did his partner Harold Varner III, who bogeys the last and shoots 80. They’re +2 and +6 respectively.
Two putts from distance at 16 for Scheffler to secure his par. That turns up a little matchplay-style heat on Schwartzel, who isn’t able to make his ten-foot birdie putt. A chance to close the gap on the leader is gone … and then he pulls a two-footer, the ball lipping out on the left. That gap between the pair widens. Meanwhile up on 17, Lowry can’t get up and down from the back, and continues chuntering away at his caddy, who is really earning his corn today. Lowry’s mood isn’t helped when Im rattles in a 15-footer for his fourth birdie of the back nine!
-9: Scheffler (16)
-6: Smith (F)
-4: Im (17)
-3: Schwartzel (16)
-2: Lowry (17)
-1: Thomas (F), Conners (F)
E: Willett (F)
A 79 for Kevin Na, who ends the day at +5 overall. His partner Dustin Johnson was considered more likely to make a run at Scheffler, but he couldn’t get it going either, and finishes with a pair of bogeys and a 75. He’s +1, and wears the weary look of a man who knows the jig is up.
Scheffler, having bogeyed three of the last four holes, doesn’t take any chances at 16. Into the heart of the green, hoping for a two-putt par to steady the listing ship. Schwartzel kind of has to keep the pedal down, though, and goes for the pin. A lovely shot to ten feet. Meanwhile bother for Lowry on 17, who finds the sand at the front of the green, then sends his bunker shot over the back.
Scottie Scheffler is faced with a 40-foot downhill tickle from the back of 15. His putt is always missing to the right … and it keeps on going, nine feet past the pin. All of a sudden, it’s a battle for par … and he can’t make it, his ball always dying to the right. It’s a third bogey in four holes for the leader, a worrying run all right. This is the first time he’s felt the pressure of leading the Masters … and it’s only Saturday. Famously, the tournament doesn’t start until the leaders hit the turn tomorrow. Par for Schwartzel. The lead is only three!
-9: Scheffler (15)
-6: Smith (F)
-4: Schwartzel (15)
-3: Im (16), Lowry (16)
-1: Thomas (F), Conners (F)
E: Willett (F), D Johnson (17)
+1: Fleetwood (F), Kokrak (F), McIlroy (F), Morikawa (F)
Two putts for Im on 16. Lowry nearly holes out from the bunker. A pair of pars. They both stay at -3.
Cam Smith whips a delightful wedge up from the back of 18, and in goes the par putt from three feet. He signs for his second 68 of the week. Will yesterday’s 74 end up costing him a green jacket? He’s -6 overall, and hoping Scottie Scheffler, already four clear, doesn’t finish his round with a flourish. Bogey for his partner Corey Conners, though, who ends the day with a level-par 72. He remains -1 overall.
A bad break for Im on 16. His tee shot lands ten feet from the flag, and looks like sticking, but ever so slowly turns to the left, then tumbles down the green towards the water. It’s never getting wet, but it stops on the fringe and instead of a look at birdie, he’s left with a long two putts for his par. Lowry meanwhile dumps his effort into the bunker that did for Smith. And back on 15, Scheffler and Smith, having laid up with their second shots, find the green with their wedges … though neither are particularly close. Still, a couple of birdie putts coming right up!
What a putt by Im Sung-jae on 15! A huge 30-foot left-to-right curler from the fringe at the back, and it’s his fourth birdie in eight holes! All of a sudden, he’s back to -3, and may already be ruing that horrible double-bogey start. Meanwhile on 18, Cam Smith pulls his drive towards the trees on the left, but gets a lucky break and is able to power his second onto the green … and just over the back. He’ll have a tricky chip coming up. What he’d give to get up and down for par and sign his name at the bottom of a 68.
Disappointing rounds for Collin Morikawa (74) and Will Zalatoris (75). Zalatoris in particular was looking good for a while, but he sent his third at 13 into Rae’s Creek and ended up with a double-bogey seven. That was the centrepiece of a triptych of horror that saw him ship four shots in three holes. Morikawa’s decline was steadier, with bogeys at 13 and 18. Morikawa ends the day at +1 overall, Zalatoris +2.
Scheffler’s right-to-left par putt stays out on the high side. Meanwhile up on 17, Smith gets up and down from the back, and the lead is cut to four. The 2016 champion Danny Willett finishes up with three pars in a row, and his 73 keeps him in good nick for Sunday.
-10: Scheffler (14)
-6: Smith (17)
-4: Schwartzel (14)
-3: Lowry (14)
-2: Conners (17), Im (14)
-1: Thomas (F), D Johnson (16)
E: Willett (F)
Scheffler punches his wedge up the green. For a second, it looks like trundling into the cup for an outrageous birdie. Instead it rolls a good six feet past. Schwartzel meanwhile pitches back up from way beyond the green. His ball just fails to get over the top of the bank. He clips another attempt to kick-in distance and will settle for bogey.
Scheffler splits the 14th fairway, then lands his approach in nearly the perfect spot. One step further, and he’d be ten feet away. But it catches the ridge running across the green, and spins back, all the way off the front. Schwartzel meanwhile flies the green. Up on 17, Smith’s approach nearly holds the back of the green, but takes one roll too many and topples off. Tricky up and downs faced by all.
A staunch par for Lowry on 14. Having fired his tee shot into the trees down the right, he slings a low one through the green and down the back. But a gentle wedge wafted gracefully up to five feet offers the opportunity to save par … and he makes no mistake to remain at -3.
Scheffler lays up at 13, then spins a glorious wedge to five feet. So much for any suggestion that doubt is creeping in! Another birdie attempt coming up. Before he can take it, Schwartzel gets down to business and has to settle for par. Then up steps Scheffler, who confidently rolls in to move back to -11 … and he’s suddenly five clear again, because on 16, Smith splashes out to four feet, only to pull the tickly downhill par putt. Bogey meanwhile for Thomas on 18, and he has to settle for a disappointing 72 that promised so much more.
-11: Scheffler (13)
-6: Smith (16)
-5: Schwartzel (13)
-3: Lowry (13)
-2: Conners (16), Im (13)
-1: Thomas (F), D Johnson (14)
Shane Lowry gets in his own way on 15. Having discussed his lay-up yardage with his caddy, he hits a dismal wedge in, 43 feet from the flag. “That was a fucking shit lay-up,” he spits at his looper. Still fuming, he ends up three putting, and drops back to -3. Heading the other way: Cam Smith, who successfully lays up on 15, wedges to five feet, and tidies up for birdie. Suddenly there’s just three in it … although Smith then dumps his tee shot at 16 into sand, from where he’ll have a testing up and down.
-10: Scheffler (12)
-7: Smith (15)
-5: Schwartzel (12)
-3: Lowry (13)
-2: Thomas (17), Conners (15), Im (13)
-1: D Johnson (14)
Are the first slivers of doubt manifesting themselves in Scheffler’s noggin? He takes an age over his tee shot at 13, then sends a hysterical slice miles to the right. By his standards, it’s a short one, too, just 252 yards. It makes his mind up: he has to lay up. Schwartzel meanwhile is in the pine straw on the same side of the hole.
Schwartzel very nearly rolls his putt from the fringe of 12 into the cup. That would have been an outrageous birdie after the tee shot into the flowers. Scheffler meanwhile overhits his bunker shot and sends his ball over the back. Left with a similar putt to Schwartzel, he hits a bobbler that stops a couple of feet short. He tidies up for his second bogey of the day.
-10: Scheffler (12)
-6: Smith (14)
-5: Schwartzel (12)
It’s been an extremely disappointing day for Patrick Cantlay. The current FedEx Cup champ bogeyed the last three holes to sign for an extremely messy seven-over 79. He’s +8 for the week. His playing partner Webb Simpson cards 73 and ends the day at +2 overall. Meanwhile a second birdie in a row for Justin Thomas, at 17, and the 2017 PGA champion isn’t giving up. He’s back up to -2.
Scheffler’s tee shot at 12 is a little nervy. And short. He’s fortunate that his ball makes it to the bunker at the front … just … because had it not, it was bouncing back down the bank and into the creek. Schwartzel is up next … and after taking his sweet time to wonder what the swirling wind is doing, skelps his effort long and left, and high into the bank of azaleas! But he gets a huge break as the ball comes squirting out and back down the slope. He’ll still have some work to do from the fringe at the back, but that’s a massive stroke of luck for the 2011 champ.
Birdie for Im at 12, his second in three holes. He’s -2. Schwartzel isn’t able to get up and down at 11 from the 12th tee (!) and slips back to -5. Conners makes his birdie at 14. And a slight shock back at 11, as Scheffler underhits his fairly straight birdie putt, which dies to the left one turn from the hole. Another extremely small bone tossed to the rest of the field. Beggars can’t be choosers.
-11: Scheffler (11)
-6: Smith (14)
-5: Schwartzel (11)
-4: Lowry (12)
-3: Conners (14)
-2: Im (12)
-1: Thomas (16), D Johnson (13)
