Scheffler Fires 65 at Masters to Climb Leaderboard, Sits Four Shots Off McIlroy

Scottie Scheffler has been the man to beat for good reason, and on Saturday at Augusta National he reminded the golfing world exactly what that looks like.

Scheffler fired a 65, seven under par, in the third round of the Masters, vaulting up the leaderboard and leaving little doubt that when the pressure is highest, the world number one still has another level. It was his best-ever round at the Masters, and it came at precisely the right moment.

Sitting 12 strokes off Rory McIlroy lead through 36 holes, Scheffler needed something special. He needed birdies, and he delivered them in bunches. Five birdies and an eagle later, he had turned a seemingly lost tournament into a genuine opportunity. All of a sudden, Augusta felt simple again.

It started on the long downhill 2nd hole, where Scheffler struck his approach into the heart of the green and then drained a six-foot putt for eagle. From there, he rolled. The 7th, 8th, and 9th holes saw him pile up chances, hitting approaches to six feet, fourteen feet, and four feet respectively. Five under through nine. The roars were building.

By the time he reached Amen Corner, the crowd had grown thick. His name was on every leaderboard. Word spread fast at Augusta when Scheffler is on a charge, and people came from all corners of the property to follow it. His approach at the 11th, 200 yards out, curled around the bank onto the front of the green and stopped eight feet from the cup. It was arguably his best shot of the week.

The 13th hole finally slowed his momentum. A tee shot to the inside corner of the dogleg looked perfect, but his approach found one of the three greenside bunkers. He called it a mud ball. He managed to save par, but the birdie run was over. He would add one more at the 16th, though short misses at the 14th and 17th cost him a run at the record.

Even Scheffler could not quite believe how clean the round was. When told his round could have been even lower, he bristled briefly before acknowledging the truth. 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.

Sitting four shots off the lead with 18 holes to play, Scheffler knows better than anyone that Augusta has a way of complicating things. But with the form he showed on Saturday, anything is possible. McIlroy wobbled around Amen Corner, and the weekend is far from settled.

Not only do you have to conquer this golf course, you have to conquer changing conditions, and you also have to conquer your nerves to get it done around here, Scheffler said. There are numerous challenges to get it done in this tournament, and we will see what happens as the weekend progresses.