World No.1 Scottie Scheffler has clashed with a journalist after his third-round seven-under 65 to storm back into contention at the US Masters.
Tied for 24th after scores of two-under 70 and two-over 74, Scheffler rocketed back up the leaderboard on Saturday (local time) with a bogey-free round that included five birdies and an eagle.
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It was a near perfect round that saw the 2022 and 2024 Masters champion find some of his very best form — but one reporter at Augusta National seemed to think he left a few out there.
“Scottie, that was a 65 today. What did it feel like it could have or should have been?” the journalist asked.
Incredulous at the question, given he’d just shot the third-round clubhouse lead — and equal best round of the day when play later finished — Scheffler didn’t mince his words in response.
“That’s just a terrible question. Next question. Awful,” he said with a flat laugh.
Showing the field the way in the pursuit of co-leader Rory McIlroy, Scheffler surged to seven under for the tournament.
After opening his title defence with rounds of 67 and 65, McIlroy built the biggest 36-hole lead in the Masters’ 90-year history but was quickly feeling the heat in scorching Georgia.
He shot one-over par on a rollercoaster Saturday to end up sharing the lead with Cameron Young, who tied with Scheffler for the low round of the day.
In an incredible start, McIlroy had his overnight advantage slashed to just two when he bogeyed the first hole and 2018 champion Patrick Reed birdied his first three.
But while Reed cooled off and slipped back from nine to seven under, five behind a steadying McIlroy, Scheffler proved the biggest mover of the day.
The 2022 and 2024 champion ignited his round early with an eagle at the par-five second before reeling off four birdies in five holes around the turn to vault to six under.
He collected another at the 16th, but rued missing a series of other short birdie putts that could have had the American threatening to break the course-record 63 jointly held by Greg Norman and Nick Price.
Still, Scheffler was safely in the clubhouse, five shots off the pace as McIlroy braced for the chasing pack to continue turning up the heat in the windier, late-afternoon conditions.
Earlier, in a glimpse of what was to come, Patrick Cantlay had seized the clubhouse lead at six under with his own special round of 66.
Irish showman Shane Lowry also electrified the galleries on Saturday with his second Masters hole-in-one, this one coming on the sixth to also throw down the gauntlet to his great mate McIlroy.
Lowry pulled to within three shots of his Ryder Cup teammate with a birdie at the par-5 eighth to move into a tie for second at nine under with China’s Haotong Li.
Lowry’s latest heroics continue his penchant for aces on golf’s grandest stages.
The former US Open champion also holed out at Augusta’s iconic 16th hole in 2016 and aced the island 17th at TPC Sawgrass and the seventh at Pebble Beach.
– With AAP
