Scottie Scheffler, champion of the Augusta Masters in 2022, will arrive today as the leader in the last round, while the legendary Tiger Woods suffered yesterday the worst day in his career in this tournament and the Spanish Jon Rahm was left with no options to repeat his victory of 2023.
Number one in the world ranking, Scheffler had landed in the third round sharing the lead with two other Americans: Bryson DeChambeau and Max Homa.
But with 71 strokes (-1 with an eagle, four birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey), Scheffler was left alone at the head of the tournament with an accumulated -7.
“I started very well but then things got a little dangerous in the middle,” Scheffler acknowledged.
“But I did a good job of staying patient, got a good eagle on the 13th and had a good finish too,” he added.
It was precisely a providential birdie on 18, following having messed up with a bogey on 17, which allowed Scheffler to take a minimal advantage over his compatriot Collin Morikawa, the best in this third round in Augusta with a -3 and who was is in second position with a -6 in total.
Homa follows closely with a -5 following three rounds (+1 this Saturday) while the Swede Ludvig Åberg presents a -4 before the last day (-2 on the third day).
For his part, DeChambeau fell to fifth place with a -3 in total (+3 yesterday), but he gave a spectacular shot on the 18th hole for birdie that drove the Augusta fans absolutely crazy.
Woods and Rahm, away
After making history on Friday with a record 24 times making the cut at Augusta, Woods experienced a nightmare yesterday with a +10 (two birdies, eight bogeys and two double bogeys).
Woods, five-time champion of this “great” and who continues to suffer physical problems, has an accumulated +11 that leaves him among the last positions of the golfers who arrived at the weekend.
For his part, Rahm, current champion in Agusta, might not correct his setbacks in the first two rounds and finished the third day with the par of the field and a +5 in the accumulated that also places him very far from the head.
The Spaniard had a hard time finding his way to birdies and the only one he got came on the 17th hole. He made par on 16 of the 18 holes and only suffered one bogey on the 7th.
The Basque golfer had begun his defense of the green jacket with a +1 on Thursday and a +4 on Friday, which with a +5 in total had left him 11 strokes behind the three leaders before the third round. He is now 12 behind Scheffler’s -1.
The best Hispanic with one round left is the Chilean Joaquín Niemann with +3 in total following a -1. Colombian Camilo Villegas might only achieve a +4 and has a cumulative +9.
Finally, the Spanish José María Olazábal, double champion at Augusta and who gave the surprise by passing the cut of the weekend in his 35th appearance in this “major”, achieved a +3 that left him with +9 in total with remaining of the last round.—EFE
#Scheffler #aims #title
2024-04-24 13:00:34
