Can anybody chase down Scottie Scheffler on the Masters?

AUGUSTA, Ga. — They are saying the roars on the Masters get louder on the weekend, and no applause was louder or extra consequential on Saturday than the one which erupted from the far nook of the property on the thirteenth inexperienced at Augusta Nationwide Golf Membership. There, world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler reminded rivals and patrons alike: He was, is and would be the participant to beat.

With 31 ft left for eagle, Scheffler was freed up. He wasn’t occupied with the 3-foot miss on the tenth gap that resulted in a double bogey or the 10-foot miss on 11 that put him again at 4 underneath. As an alternative, he was occupied with reclaiming possession of the event. The putt snaked its means up the inexperienced earlier than slipping into the fitting aspect of the outlet.

The sometimes even-keeled Scheffler could not assist however fist pump, and the echoing ovations additional highlighted the fact that confronted gamers making an attempt to make their Saturday transfer:

What occurs when the man standing between you and a inexperienced jacket is already sporting one?

It is a query that has been related even earlier than the event started, when Scheffler — the 2022 Masters champion — arrived having gained two tournaments already this season, proudly owning seven top-10 finishes to his identify and the very best ballstriking the game has seen since Tiger Woods was in his prime.

By the point the third spherical ended, it was no shock that Scheffler’s identify was the one one at 7-under par, one stroke away from second place. The one shock might need been that he had carried out the day’s loudest roar along with his putter.

“That is why I feel you noticed a little bit of emotion there from me on 13,” Scheffler stated. “As a result of it was an essential time within the event.”

Scheffler’s putt and its influence reverberated all through the course. From the thirteenth fairway awaiting their second pictures into the inexperienced, Max Homa and Bryson DeChambeau had photographs to go together with the music. The 36-hole leaders, together with Scheffler, may solely wait and look on as Scheffler grabbed the lead that was as soon as theirs. Now, they needed to catch him.

DECHAMBEAU HAS ALREADY skilled what a serious championship win seems like. In 2020, a brawnier model of the LIV Golf star took down one of many hardest U.S. Open exams in current historical past at Winged Foot. Lots has occurred since then, together with tools modifications, health modifications and even DeChambeau calling Augusta Nationwide a par 67 and subsequently apologizing for it.

“He is top-of-the-line gamers on the planet,” Phil Mickelson stated Saturday of DeChambeau. “He may do it in another way than different gamers, however that is a part of his magnificence. He is simply an unimaginable expertise.”

The self-declared extra mature, extra affected person DeChambeau confirmed as much as Augusta this week and shot the bottom spherical of the event to date along with his 65 on Thursday. Due to an exhilarating hole-out for birdie on 18 that reignited his Sunday probabilities and put him 4 pictures behind Scheffler, one other 65 could also be essential if DeChambeau desires to placed on a inexperienced jacket.

HOMA, FOR HIS PART, has by no means fairly had a second like this. The three-time PGA Tour winner has notably underperformed in main championships, his finest end being the latest main — a high 10 ultimately yr’s Open Championship. However all week, Homa has stayed inside himself and located success by — as he put it — embracing the nerves.

“Simply since you’re nervous and uncomfortable does not imply you are not going to succeed,” Homa stated. “I really feel like I confirmed myself that. Even when I’m nervous tomorrow, simply embrace it just a little bit.”

After watching Scheffler take again the lead from the golf green, Homa did not waver. He had simply made his first bogey of the day on 11 and it could be his solely blemish, permitting him to remain two pictures again of Scheffler headed into Sunday.

“I got here right here with the gratitude and appreciation that I get to do it,” Homa stated. “I am completely satisfied I get to do it tomorrow. I will remind myself I am a canine and I am prepared for this second.”

ACROSS RAE’S CREEK on the 14th gap, Collin Morikawa should have heard Scheffler making a transfer. Not too way back, he was the one bringing the roars, taking the golf world by storm and profitable two majors by the point he was 24. He is 27 now and as an alternative of changing into the game’s subsequent celebrity, he is stalled. He is solely gained one PGA Tour occasion since 2021 and although he is had three top-10 finishes at majors during the last two years, it is by no means felt like he is been near including a 3rd.

“I have been looking out since 2022,” Morikawa stated. “It has been a wrestle the previous few years and it hasn’t been enjoyable … typically you are looking out, and I needed to search. It’s important to discover one thing.”

Regardless of altering putters in the midst of the event and holding on to a swing really feel for expensive life, Morikawa has discovered one thing this week, and although he is reluctant to share precisely what it’s till it lasts for 72 holes, he is drawn the mandatory confidence going into Sunday as he sits just one shot again from Scheffler.

FACING HIS OWN problem on the par-5 fifteenth, Ludvig Åberg was maybe too distant to have the ability to inform who the noise was for. However even at simply 24 years previous, Aberg isn’t any stranger to huge moments. This can be the Swede’s first main championship look, however he already has 4 skilled wins and a Ryder Cup underneath his belt this week, and he is appeared and performed like somebody who has spent ample time round Augusta.

“I give it some thought on a regular basis, I am OK occupied with it,” Aberg stated Saturday of the enormity of the second. “I do not assume you need to shrink back from it. I do not assume you need to attempt to push it away. I attempt to embrace it, and I attempt to be okay with all that comes with it.”

It helps that although Aberg was born in Eslöv, he was nurtured by windy days in West Texas, the place he attended Texas Tech. All of it positioned him to be one of many recreation’s subsequent stars and probably solely the third participant ever to win a serious in his first begin. Any nerves which will come up can be embraced.

SCHEFFLER WOULD BE the primary one to say that such a process is less complicated stated than achieved.

In 2022, Scheffler’s win was punctuated by him admitting that he cried “like a child” the Sunday morning of his Masters win as a result of he was “stressed.” Lots has modified since, and Scheffler says now he is extra ready to cope with all of it, which does not bode effectively for individuals who will chase him. Neither did what he did on 18.

By the point Scheffler obtained to that last gap Saturday, he was coming off a bogey and was sharing the lead with Morikawa at 6-under. It was solely becoming then that he elicited yet another roar from the patrons, becoming that he left his rivals with one final reminder of his superiority going into Sunday. After flagging his method, the 8-foot birdie putt was good the entire means in, giving Scheffler the solo, 54-hole lead in a event for the eleventh time in his profession — essentially the most of any participant since 2019. To this point, he is 4-for-10 in changing these leads into victories.

“This can be a place I am very aware of,” Scheffler stated. “It is good to have that have however going into tomorrow that is all it’s.”

The inevitability of Scheffler will loom over Augusta on Sunday. However for Morikawa, Homa, Aberg and DeChambeau, the daunting process forward solely makes the chance in entrance of them one any true competitor would cherish: securing their very own Masters’ greatness goes to require chasing down the very best participant on the planet. They would not have it another means.

“Scottie is the No. 1 participant on the planet for a purpose,” Morikawa stated. “However on the finish of the day, it would not scare me.”