Rory McIlroy leads The Masters by two shots ahead of Bryson DeChambeau heading into the final day, with Scottie Scheffler sitting seven shots back of the Northern Irishman.
The golf on display at Augusta National on day three of The Masters was quite simply breathtaking, but Scottie Scheffler kind of missed out on the party.
The two-time major winner’s putter went cold at the worst possible time, whilst his usually unrivalled ball-striking deserted him somewhat.
Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy went on a charge and separated himself from the field before Bryson DeChambeau made three birdies in his last four holes to force his way into the final group.
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Scheffler was very calm when he saw Rory McIlroy hit the top of The Masters leaderboard, but he failed to kick on at any point during his round.
Now he will need some real fireworks if he is to have any chance whatsoever of hunting down Rory and Bryson on Masters Sunday.
Scottie Scheffler’s tactic to catch Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau at The Masters
Nobody expected the 28-year-old American to fall out of contention on day three of The Masters.
But does he genuinely have any chance whatsoever of winning his third green jacket on Sunday?
Scheffler headed to the media centre after his disappointing third round 72 at Augusta National.
And Scottie responded when asked when asked if he was feeling frustrated:
“Well, I just made a nice par on 18. That was good. But once again, it’s like you can only shoot so low if you’re going to have to wedge it from 100 yards to make par. Just going to go to the range, hit a few balls, see if I can get a good feel for tomorrow.
“Today and yesterday were days where I could have shot myself out of the tournament. I battled really hard both days. Today I made some great up-and-downs. I think I only had two bogeys for the day, which some of the spots I put myself in I felt like was a decent job of only making two bogeys.
“Going into tomorrow, have a good front nine and start moving my way up the leaderboard and you never know what can happen on the back nine. Just going out tomorrow, just try to get off to a good start, and maybe start like today, just hole a few more putts.“
Scheffler was then asked if he plans to change his approach to the final day, considering the fact that he’s seven behind the leader heading into Sunday:
“You know, there is a school of thought when it comes to that, but when I think about last year, I had some pretty — I had two big comebacks, one at THE PLAYERS and one at the Olympics. Did I press or force things? Did I play more aggressive? Not really. I just gave myself the most amount of opportunities and I hit a lot of good shots and was able to hole some putts.
“Going into tomorrow, like I said, I’m going to go hit a few balls tonight, see if I can get a good feel going into tomorrow, and then you never know.“
Masters performance so unlike Scottie Scheffler
Scheffler is currently sitting in 31st spot in the greens hit in regulation standings this week, with just 62.96% (Official Masters website).
That is so unlike the defending Masters champion.
He has been a little off his usual levels this season. Perhaps the injury he sustained back in December, and the ensuing lengthy layoff, has caused him more problems than he would like to admit.
Whilst Scottie Scheffler still has a chance to win The Masters, Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau are simply too far ahead.
Stranger things have happened, but Scottie would need a miracle at Augusta national on Sunday if he is to win his third green jacket.
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