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.
Editor’s Picks
2 Associated
With 31 toes left for eagle, Scheffler was freed up. He wasn’t fascinated about 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 below. As an alternative, he was fascinated about reclaiming possession of the match. The putt snaked its approach up the inexperienced earlier than slipping into the appropriate aspect of the opening.
The sometimes even-keeled Scheffler could not assist however fist pump, and the echoing ovations additional highlighted the truth that confronted gamers attempting 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 match 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 most effective 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 performed the day’s loudest roar together with his putter.
The Masters on ESPN+ | April 11-14
It is time for the Masters! Watch reside streams all 4 days of featured teams, Holes 4, 5 and 6, Amen Nook and Holes 15 and 16 on ESPN+.Enroll right now! | Watch Masters right here• Movie recaps of each Masters since 1960• Tiger in Augusta | Extra golf information
“That is why I believe 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 match.”
The affect of Scheffler’s putter reverberated all through the course. From the thirteenth fairway awaiting their second photographs into the inexperienced, Max Homa and Bryson DeChambeau had photographs to associate with the music. The 36-hole leaders, together with Scheffler, might 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 appears like. In 2020, a brawnier model of the LIV Golf star took down one of many hardest U.S. Open checks in latest historical past at Winged Foot. Quite a bit 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 among the best gamers on this planet,” Phil Mickelson stated Saturday of DeChambeau. “He would possibly do it in a different way than different gamers, however that is a part of his magnificence. He is simply an unbelievable expertise.”
The self-declared extra mature, extra affected person DeChambeau confirmed as much as Augusta this week and shot the bottom spherical of the match up to now together with his 65 on Thursday. Because of an exhilarating gap out for birdie on 18 that reignited DeChambeau’s Sunday probabilities and put him 4 photographs behind Scheffler, one other 65 may be essential if DeChambeau needs 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, together with his greatest end coming at the newest main after a prime 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 doesn’t suggest 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 a bit bit.”
After watching Scheffler take again the lead from the thirteenth fairway, Homa did not waver. He had simply made his first bogey of the day on 11, and it might be his solely blemish, permitting him to remain 2 photographs 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 pleased 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, Morikawa was the one bringing the roars, taking the golf world by storm and profitable two majors by the point he was 24. He’s 27 now, and as a substitute of changing into the game’s subsequent celebrity, he has stalled. He has solely gained one PGA Tour occasion since 2021. And although he has posted three top-10 finishes at majors over the previous two years, it has by no means felt like he has been near including a 3rd.
“I have been looking since 2022,” Morikawa stated. “It has been a wrestle the previous few years, and it hasn’t been enjoyable … generally you are looking, and I needed to search. You need to discover one thing.”
Regardless of altering putters in the midst of the match 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 has drawn the required confidence going into Sunday as he sits only one shot again from Scheffler.
FACING HIS OWN problem on the par-5 fifteenth, Ludvig Aberg was maybe too far-off to have the ability to inform who the noise was for. However even at simply 24 years previous, Aberg is not any stranger to huge moments. This may be the Swede’s first main championship look, however he already has 4 skilled wins and a Ryder Cup below his belt, and he has seemed and performed like somebody who has spent ample time round Augusta.
“I give it some thought on a regular basis. I am OK fascinated about it,” Aberg stated Saturday of the enormity of the second as he sits 3 photographs out of the lead. “I do not suppose it’s best to shrink back from it. I do not suppose it’s best to attempt to push it away. I attempt to embrace it, and I attempt to be OK with all that comes with it.”
It helps that though 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 sport’s subsequent stars and doubtlessly solely the third participant ever to win a serious in his first begin. Any nerves that may come up might be embraced.
SCHEFFLER WOULD BE the primary one to say that such a process is simpler stated than finished.
Prime tales of the week from 
Get unique entry to 1000’s of premium articles a yr from prime writers.• Finest NFL prospects at 90 traits »• Rating school soccer’s prime defenses »• What’s subsequent for Bronny James? » Extra ESPN+ content material »
In 2022, Scheffler’s Masters win was punctuated by him admitting he cried “like a child” the Sunday morning of the match as a result of he was “wired.”
Quite a bit has modified since then, and Scheffler stated he’s extra ready to cope with all of it, which does not bode nicely for individuals who will chase him. Neither did what he did on 18 on Saturday.
By the point Scheffler acquired to the ultimate gap, he was coming off a bogey and was sharing the lead with Morikawa at 6-under. It was solely becoming then that Scheffler elicited 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 approach in, giving Scheffler the solo, 54-hole lead in a match for the eleventh time in his profession — probably the most of any participant since 2019. Thus far, he’s 4-for-10 in changing these leads into victories.
“This can be a place I am very accustomed to,” 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 most effective participant on this planet. They would not have it every other approach.
“Scottie is the No. 1 participant on this planet for a purpose,” Morikawa stated. “However on the finish of the day, it would not scare me.”
