Despite the great advantage of the current PGA number one, who outscored his immediate pursuers by five strokes, Woods aspired to show at the start of the weekend that he is ready for a new miracle in Augusta.
The 46-year-old Woods was able to avoid the cut on Friday and continue to compete in his first tournament since the brutal car accident in February 2021, in which he nearly lost his right leg.
Surviving the strong wind on Friday at Augusta National (Georgia), Woods entered the weekend in 19th position with a cumulative 145 (+1), nine away from Scheffler, a disadvantage that no champion of the Masters has managed to come back in the last 36 holes.
But Woods, the greatest golfer of the century and among the best in history, was not willing to give up and warned on Friday that he would be a dangerous rival if he reached the final stretch with options.
Despite his mobility problems, exhaustion and the disadvantage in the classification, Tiger’s ultra-competitive spirit did not allow him more than to continue aspiring to a sixth green jacket, with which he would equal the record of Jack Nicklaus.
His options, however, have faded since he took to the field on Saturday in a dry and cold climate (10º C) that is not in his favor due to his back problems.
Partnering with countryman Kevin Kisner, Woods stumbled early in the third round by bogeying the first hole for the second day in a row.
Tiger missed three 15m putts to the disappointment of the thousands of fans who support him throughout his runs.
On the second hole he was inches from an eagle but settled for a birdie that again left him nine strokes away from Scheffler.
“Damn it,” exclaimed the idol on the tee shot of the fifth hole, as a premonition of the painful double bogey he would end up committing when he missed a putt of less than a meter.
The misfortunes continued on the sixth hole when he sent the ball into the bunker and let off steam with a strong two-handed grip on the club. The Californian added three par holes but made another bogey before starting the second part of the course for a cumulative +4.
– Scheffler, for his first ‘Major’ –
Last player to start, Scottie Scheffler began the defense of his extraordinary five-shot lead over his pursuers, which included his group mate, South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel, Ireland’s Shane Lowry and former world number one Dustin Johnson.
The Japanese Hideki Matsuyama, defender of the title, dropped off at the beginning of his round with a bogey on the first hole.
Chilean Joaquín Niemann, who fell from the top on Friday due to a double bogey on the last hole, dropped to 16th place with another bogey on the fourth hole.
Scheffler, 25, flew in Augusta on Friday with a card of 67 shots (-5) to take the lead with a cumulative 136 (-8).
On the hunt for his first Grand Slam title, Scheffler is the most in-form player on tour with three trophies this season. With the last of them, the WGC Match Play in March, Scheffler unseated the Spanish Jon Rahm from number one on the PGA.
Instead of his desired comeback, Rahm lived his worst day on Saturday with three bogeys and a birdie in his first 10 holes, leaving him with a cumulative +4 to 12 shots from Scheffler.
The entrance Tiger Woods is left without hope in a Masters dominated by Scheffler was first published in diary TODAY.
