Up in smoke: Tiger Woods shoots 10-over, Scottie Scheffler grabs control

AUGUSTA, April 14

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Scottie Scheffler birdied his final hole to emerge from a packed leaderboard and grab a one-shot lead over Collin Morikawa after the third round of the Masters while Tiger Woods shot the worst round of his Major championship career on Saturday.

Scheffler, who used a back-nine eagle to get his round back on track, carded a 1-under 71 on a firm and fast layout to reach 7-under and in position to win a second Masters. Morikawa, who is seeking the third leg of the career Grand Slam of golf’s four Majors, was alone in second place after a 3-under 69 that was one shot off the day’s low round.

Max Homa (73), who along with LIV Golf’s Bryson DeChambeau (75) held a share of the halfway lead with Scheffler, was a further shot back in third place.

A day after only eight players broke par in a second round played amid wind gusts that topped 60kmph and made a difficult course even more challenging, the early starters were greeted with dazzling sunshine and a much lighter breeze.

Woods, fresh off his Masters record-setting 24th made cut, began his third round seven shots behind and hoping his injury-ravaged body would hold up and allow him to move into contention for the final round. But Woods, who said this week he can still equal Jack Nicklaus’s record six Masters titles, looked worn out after playing 23 holes on Friday and suffered an unwanted personal milestone with a 10-over 82.

Indian-American Akshay Bhatia carded a 2-over 74. The 22-year-old was 5-over and T-28, while Sahith Theegala shot a third straight 74 to get to 6-over and T-36. — Agencies