The Masters 2024 Day Three LIVE: Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa, Max Homa and Ludvig Aberg battle for the lead as Tiger Woods endures an Augusta nightmare and moves to 11-over par

Mike Keegan recaps on a busy day at Augusta National and spotted Man United’s legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson following Rory McIlroy at the Masters.

Meanwhile, gnomes continue to be all the talk at Augusta…

It’s been some weekend for Bryson DeChambeau already and he has been pure entertainment with his antics around the course and his brilliance with the club in hand.

He makes. abirdie at 15 to go to one shot off the leaders.

The US Open winner also left fans scratching their heads yesterday when he picked up a direction sign and moved it out of line from his shot!

Morikawa deserved a birdie there! His putt for Birdie just slides wide of the hole on 15 and he misses out on taking the solo lead.

Meanwhile, Tommy Fleetwood has just played pinpoint shot onto the par three 16th to card a birdie.

He’s one player who’s been slowly climbing the leaderboard today – and one to keep an eye on

It’s a little different to how you might expect, as attention to detail is never spared at the Masters.

After taking the solo lead earlier at -7, Hojgaard has fallen back down the leaderboard to three-under after carding four straight bogeys.

His tee shot at 14 finds the pine straw. He plays a wonderful shot to escape the tricky lie, before sending a pitch to the back of the green!

It seems the pressure’s starting to mount at the top of the leaderboard.

Bryson DeChambeau has only just tapped a putt on the 13th green but it’s somehow gone past the hole!

Meanwhile, Max Homa has just followed the American and sent his putt past the hole too.

We were saying earlier that they are starting to look a little firmer, with the Georgia sun belting down on them today.

We could be in for an interesting day tomorrow.

After his ball found the back of the green, Aberg has just chunked his pitch on a little short on the par five with the ball just sticking in the second cut on the periphery of the target zone.

He taps on with a texas wedge and will have a chance to make par here to keep himself at five-under.

Meanwhile, fans online have been joking that there is only one person that can stop Scottie Scheffler from winning the Masters…

You can never write this man off. At the start of his back nine, he’d posted. a double bogey and then a bogey on 10 and 11, but he’s recovered with a sensational eagle on the par five 13th.

His putt, from over 30-yards out, winds its way around the slope and just trickles into the hole. Sensational stuff.

He and Morikawa go top at -6.

Jason Day has raised eyebrows with his clothing choices this week at Augusta.

The golfer is currently fitted by apparel brand Malbon and raised the eyebrows of many fans for the baggy trousers he wore on Thursday, before sporting an eye-catching vest during his second round.

He has since admitted that officials had asked him to remove the vest, the ‘busy one’ as he coined it, during his second round…

Are you talking about Augusta in general? Yeah, they asked me to take it off – the vest off yesterday. The busy one. Yeah the busy one.

Respectfully, you do that because it’s all about the tournament here, and I understand that. That’s what we’re here to do is try and play and win the Green Jacket.

Woods posted a score of 82 earlier today – his worst-ever round at a major championship.

His previous high score at the Masters was a 78 during the 2022 tournament.

The five-time Green Jacket winner carded four bogeys in his last five holes.

Despite a tough day, he was still sending the crowds at Augusta wild with his astounding brilliance.

Just as I write, it the scoreboard changes again and Hojgaard gains another shot to go -5 on the 12th, putting his tee shot way over the green into the shrubs at the back of the iconic hole.

It’s back-to-back bogeys for the 23-year-old.

DeChambeau is also having a tough time and has dropped to -5 too!

Hojgaard gains a shot at the par four 11th after sending his approach way wide of the raised green.

His chip on catches the slope and goes way past the flag, with Hojgaard putting twice for a bogey.

The pressure’s now on, with Aberg now dropping a shot on the par five 13 to mean we now have a four-way lead!

Here’s a lay of the land…

‘Get the microphone away from him!’ Butch Harmon jokes on Sky Sports’ commentary as Hatton sends a par putt on the 18th wide of the hole.

The ball catches the slope and he leaves himself a tricky putt for bogey from over 10-feet. He sends that one wide again before tapping in for a double.

A tough end for the European Ryder Cup hero, as he posts a 73 for the day and sits T23 in the leaderboard at three-over par.

Tiger Woods has finished his third round posting an 82, but wrapped up his Saturday with a par on the 18th hole.

While it will not be the day that he would have wanted, with Woods admitting he was here to win yesterday, the fans let out a huge roar for the 15-time major champion.

Huge applause goes up for Tiger Woods as he walks up towards the 18th green.

It’s been a tough day for Woods, who perhaps may be worn out from his marathon day yesterday, in which he played 23 holes to make a record 24th consecutive cut at the Masters.

The fans know they are witnessing sporting greatness here.

Oliver Holt recaps on his epic Friday afternoon at Augusta…

He just couldn’t seem to pull away from the pack in his first nine holes, despite being so consistent to card five straight pars coming into the turn.

He’s been undone by the 10th hole, despite a brilliant drive right down the middle of the fairway on the par four.

His approach just wasn not up to scratch. Firing the ball way too long over the green and into a crowd of patrons at the back.

His resulting chip on is equally poor – rather uncharacteristically. It catches the slope on the green and he finds himself with a long putt in, laying up short before tapping in for a double bogey.

Meanwhile, Bryson DeChambeau has moved to -6!

That was sensational from the 23-year-old! He makes birdie on the 10th to take the lead after Scheffler falls back to -5 with a double bogey!

Outstanding play from Hojgaard who started his round with a bogey but has recovered four birdies!

Sir Nick Faldo on Sky Sport’s commentary has just noted the greens are starting to get a little darker and that means they will be firming up.

They’re already lightning quick as it is, but how will that impact the players heading into Sunday?

Well, some seem to be having a few difficulties judging them, with Tiger having issues on 16, while Tommy Fleetwood (E) missing a birdie putt at the 12th.

It’s been a day to forget for Woods. After his marathon day yesterday, Woods started on Saturday one-over par.

But he’s endured a difficult round, hitting three bogeys and two double bogeys in the front nine.

He managed to come around Amen Corner evens, but has just carded three bogeys in a row on 14, 15 and 16.

Tiger sent his ball over to the left of the green, but an errant putt cost him, with the ball rolling way wide past the flag and off to the periphery of the green. He followed that up with two further putts to go down for a bogey.

The world No 1 is still the man to beat, leading the field at seven-under par for the day.

But there are a couple of interesting facts to note about Scheffler, should he win again this weekend…

• This is the 13th time in his career that he’s entered on moving day with the 36-hole lead. This is also the most of any player since he joined the PGA Tour in the 2019-2020 season. Patrick Cantlay is second.
• With a win, Scheffler will become the 18th player to win the masters multiple times, and the first to accomplish the feat since Bubba Watson won in 2014.
• A win would also see him become the fourth-youngest player to win multiple green jackets.

Can you guess the other names on that list?

European Ryder Cup fans will sorely remember how clniical Collin Morikawa was with his short irons at Whistling Straits in 2021.

He is excellent from under 170-yards out, but he’s just left an errant approach shot out there on the course, with his ball just drifting wide of the green on the 10th hole.

It could come to cost him, with the American just one shot back from Scheffler at -6.

Here’s how he started the day…

He will be annoyed he couldn’t make good his birdie putt but from where he was in the trees on the par five eighth, he’ll no doubt be happy to come out unscathed.

Speaking on his game plan for the week Homa says he’s just going to let things go with the flow and not put any pressure on himself.

I wrote something in my journal yesterday that said however good I am is however good I am.

I don’t need to try to be better than I am, and just see where that takes me. Maybe it’s winning this and maybe it’s not, and I’m OK with that. I know what I put into this game.

Trying to get every ounce back doesn’t really work,” he added, “and I’ve tried that part.

The Swede has taken the golfing world by storm in the last year.

Remarkably he only left university to pursue a professional career in golf 10 months ago!

He’s currently T5 and -5 through nine holes and is playing brilliantly carding three birdies on the front nine.

He’s just made the turn and is coming into Amen corner now. Should he surpass Scheffler at the top of the leaderboard and win on Sunday afternoon – he would be the first player on their Augusta debut to win the Masters.

Unfortunately for Aberg, he’s just left a shot out there on the tenth, sending his birdie putt wide of the hole – perhaps rather uncharacteristically.

We’ve seen a lot of player going wayward a little today, which is curious as the wind seems to have died down significantly at Augusta today.

Homa is the latest, he’s chasing down Scheffler at the top of the leaderboard alongside Morikawa, and finds himself in a tricky spot under the trees on the par five eighth.

He skirts it out nicely and plays a stunning shot up the hill towards the green. It drops left of the dance floor but gets a nice kick on and rolls just past the flag.

Homa will not have seen how much of a good approach that one was and boy will he be buzzing when he gets up the hill. He’ll have a chance for a birdie putt here…

DeChambeau has just teed off on the eighth hole and has sent his shot nicely down the right side of the fairway.

He’s such a brilliant ball striker and he’s been driving the ball brilliantly over the first three days.

Today, he’s fallen down the leaderboard a little after a bogey on the third but he’s still in it and is two shots off the lead.

Did you know that this weekend he’s playing with a set of 3D printed irons that he designed himself?

No wonder why he’s dubbed ‘the scientist’ by many on tour!

We’re halfway thought round three so here’s a quick update on the current standings at the top.

The European Ryder Cup hero has just pulled off one of the shots of the weekend.

He had about 118 yards to the hole on the 14th green and it’s a tough approach, with the Irishman’s ball sitting up in the second cut and under two trees off the right of the fairway.

Lowry winds up his shot and drops the ball plumb onto the green, a brilliant recovery from where he was – but it gets better and better.

The ball trickles nicely down to the hole and drops in for eagle!

Despite that, he’s undone his hard work, with two bogeys on the 15th and 17th to go six-over par.

Is this how we’ll all be watching golf in the future?

Simply put, this is an amazing set up!

Finally, there’s something positive to take from Tiger’s round… it’s only taken until the 13th hole!

He claws back the shot he dropped at the 12th, making th emost of the par-five 13th.

His crisp approach shot into the green is right at the target, lanidng eight feet from the hole.

This time the flatstick doesn’t fail him and he finally hears the chirping of birdie for the first time since the fifth.

Scheffler protects his one-shot lead at the sixth after managing to scramble his par putt in after slipping up and sending his birdie attempt nine feet past the hole.

Meanwhile, Morikawa slips to two shots behind him, leaving Homa in solo second after a bogey at the sixth.

McIlroy admitted to Sky Sports the conditions were still a little tough out on Augusta today but felt a little better with his round of 71.

It’s still pretty tough out there. Some of the hole locations today are really tricky and the wind is less than yesterday but it’s still there.

It felt better today. It was nice to go out and hit the ball a bit better again and make some birdies. Not quite as many as I wanted to, but definitely better.

Woods’ round looked to have made a turn after the turn with the five-time winner of the Masters finding some stability with pars on 10 and 11.

But he can’t scramble another par save at Golden Bell after missing the green long and left.

He bumps it on to within six or seven feet but can’t sink the putt to save par.

That’s another dropped shot, taking him to eight over. Absolute agony.

He’ll take home a nice couple of crystal glasses. Some conoslation I guess, because at four-over, he’s not looking likely to be taking the green jacket.

-4 L Aberg, C Davis, N Hojgaard

Scheffler hands on shot – and some hope foir the field – back at the fourth.

It’s the first blemish of the afternoon for Scheffler who fails to drain his par putt at four after putting his tee shot in the sand.

DeChambeau is the first of our overnight leaders to blink.

He overhits his approach into the third before also sending his chip on way past the hole.

He can’t slavage a par with the flatstick either and it’s the first bogey of the day for the overnight co-leaders.

Homa has the chance to close the gap to Scheffler to one shot but sends his putt sailing past before managing to put away the par putt to stay in second with Morikawa.

He’s inevitable, isn’t he?

Scheffler makes it look so easy as he cruises onto the putting surface in two at the short par-four third, before casually sinking a 34-foot putt.

He extends his lead to two shots at eight-under. Meanwhile, DeChambeau and Homa are even through two for the day, alongside Morikawa at six-under for the tournament.

Do we even have to play the final round at this rate?

Speaking of DeChambeau…

Say what you will about all the LIV vs PGA drama over the past few years, but golf twitter needs the oddball and it’s kinda fun to have him back. At least he can laugh at himself.

Never change, Bryson, you Mad Scientist.

Our final group of overnight leaders Bryson DeChambeau and Max Homa are finally out on the course as they look to keep up with the pace new solo leader Scheffler has already set.

They’ve been joined by Collin Morikawa in a share of second at three-under after he made a lfying start with three birdies through his opening three holes.

Oh, this is painful now. Like really, really excruciating.

I’m getting a real sense of deja vu with flashbacks to last year’s third-round meltdown too. Woods looks in just as much pain as he did this time last year and it’s really starting to show in his approach to the ninth green.

It’s short and sandy, and he can’t recover from finding the bunker, once again costing him a dropped shot.

He reaches the turn after going out in a six-over 42. That’s his highest ever on the front nine. His previous worsts were a 40 in 1997 (he went on to win by 12) and a 40 in 2004 (when he tied for 22).

It’s a startling reminder that he’s only finished 72 holes three times in the past three years…

Jon Rahm said he needed to do a lot on Saturday to give his title defense half a chance.

It’s safe to say he didn’t deliver. He doesn’t even make a chip, nevermind a dent, into the deficit between himself and the leaders with an even-par 72 leaving him at five over.

While the rest of the field is toiling out on the testing fairways of Augusta National today, World No. 1 and co-leader Scottie Scheffler has already made his first birdie. Of course he has.

He’s only just got his round underway but he’s already made the first move, pulling one shot clear of DeChambeau and Homa, who are set to tee off in the group behind him.

And it’s a ridiculous shot, absolutely unreal, to pick up the shot. His second shot was rather poor and to the left of the green but he more than makes up for it with his third.

He flips it onto the dancefloor and sends it scuttling along into the hole for quite some birdie.

Your move, Bryson and Max.

It all looked so promising for Tiger at the fifth. How quickly things can unravel..

He can’t stop the bleeding as he follos up bogey at six and double bogey at sveen with ANOTHER double bogey at eight.

He hooks his tee shot left and into the trees and is only able to chop it out 59 yards and back onto the fairway with his second stroke. After finally making it to the green, he misses his bogey putt from 3-and-a-half feet. Ouch.

It’s his first double ever at the eighth and the first of the week by anyone on that hole.Not quite the history Tiger was looking to make this week.

Get that man a beer. Or a new icy hot patch. Just something to make this less painful!

Aberg dazzles during the tough conditions of yesterday, heading into the clubhouse as the only player to shoot sub-70.

And the Swedish sensation is steamrolling ahead into round three too.

His driving is otherworldly, piping both his drives on the first and second miles. He takes an extyremely aggressive approach into the par-five second too but unfortunately comes up just short into the front green bunker.

It’s not the worst place to be though as his caddie Joe Skovron assures him and Aberg backs up his bagman’s claim by splashing out to 12 feet and draining the birdie putt.

It’s safe to say Masters Saturday is a sold-out show.

Unfortunately, we haven’t heard too many Saturday roars with Augusta playing so hard, there’s not bee a lot to cheer about.

Over on the back nine it’s better news for McIlroy!

He finds himself on the 14th green in two and he’s left himself with a six-foot putt for a desperately-needed birdie.

He sinks it this time, taking him to three-over for the tournament with four to play today,

Woods and Hatton implode on the seventh with a couple of errant tee shots.

Hatton swings his well wide into the trees down the right and Tiger heads in a similar direction, just not quite as wide.

Hatton chips his third shot into the green but Woods scuffs his into the bunker. He splashes out of the sand but it doesn’t have a hope in hell pf holing out for par.

And he doesn’t give the bogey chance a hope either, leaving it well short – not the first time he’s done that today either. It results in a double bogey and he falls to four-over. Pull it together, Tiger!

Meanwhile, Hatton has managed to find the dancefloor but he also doesn’t give his par putt a hope. You have to actually hit it to give it a chance, Tyrrell!

It’s just the one dropped shot for Hatton, unlike Woods’ TWO.

Woods is beyond the green on the par-three sixth but his lie is not a bad one by any means.

But once again he flaters with the flatstick in his hand. He three-putted off the green at the par-three fourth and has deja vu at the sixth as his putt on from the back comes up well short.

Not sure if that was a misread or a mishit. Either way, it’s not even close and there’s still work to be done. Too much work it turns out and the par putt misses.

A bogey to follow the birdie. Back to two-over.

Masters weekend is for cancelling all plans, being rooted to the sofa and glued to the television, everyone knows this.

But Apple may have just taken the Masters viewing experience to the next level.

All you need is $3500. No big deal.

Just like yesterday, Woods refuses to compound one error with another and claims a shot back immediately.

He flushes it off the fairway, striping it down the center before dialing it into pin high on the putting surface.

His putter repays him for abandoning him at the last and drains a 19-foot putt for his first birdie of the day, Back to even for the third round and one-over for hte tournament.

Jammy. Very jammy from Rory.

His heart would have been in his mouth as he watched his tee shot sail across Rae’s Creek. It comes up just shy but somehow it stays dry.

He plays a neat little chip on a walks off from the treacherous 12th unscathed with a par.

Aaaaand just like that Augusta claims one back from Hatton.

After his exquisite putt form off the green for birdie at the third, he hands one back at the next after finding the bunker at the par-three.

He’s not alone as Woods also drops to two-over for the tournament with hsi first gbogey of the day. His quest for a 16th major win takes a hit as he slides his par putt past the hole at four.

Hatton is faced with age old quesiton of shipping or putting from off the green… and he makes the right choice, putting straight into the cup for a second birdie in three holes.He moves to even par for the tournament.

Meanwhile, Woods is in the woods. The legend finds the patrons in the trees left of the fairway at the third – and no one offered a little helping hand (or foot), how rude, do you not know who this is?

Jokes aside, Woods doesn’t need any assistance as he still has a decent angle in. His approach shot rolls a little long behind the hole and he has 18 feet for the birdie, which he can’t convert but he’ll take a par after that tee shot.

Speaking of those leaders, they’re due out in just over an hour.

But fans already talking about DeChambeau’s antics after he went viral for ripping a Masters direction sign out of the ground on Friday.

Photos of him carrying the signpost he tore out of the Augusta grounds have garned a lot of attention on social media, with golf influencer Paige Spiranac joining the conversation.

‘Hang it in the Louvre,’ Spiranac captioned a picture of the Masters leader holding the signpost on his shoulder.

And that spectacular second shot out of the woods does pay off for Matsuyama as he chips on to the putting surface and rolls in the nine-footer for the par save.

However, the same can’t be said for Fowler, who coukdn’t escape the trees right of the fairway as well as Matsuyama. He hacked it out 109 yards, leaving him 104 yards in for his third.

But he agonzingly leaves that short and gets his par putt attemmpt close but not close enough. Bogey to finish.

The first two out of the gate are both under par for the day. Still at five-over though, don’t think that’s really going to threaten DeChambeau, Scheffler and Homa somehow.

Hatton can only dig his second shot out of the trees and short of the green, while Woods is to the right of the putting surface and in the patrons at the second.

Woods does give himself a look at birdie with a straightforward chip shot onto the green but the 16-foot putt refuses to drop.

After failing to hole a tricky par putt on the 17th to drop a shot, Matsuyama finds himself in trouble again on the 18th.

The 2021 champion takes a trip to the trees right of the fairway and us commoners wouldn’t dream of having a shot. Yet, Matsuyama somehow threads it through a needle among the pines and not only does he get it out of danger, but he punches it all the way to the fron edge of the green.

His ball does catch the slope at the front and come rolling back but that is still an extremely impressive golf shot and one that may spare his blushes again at the last.

Amid all the furore around the featured groups of McIlroy and Woods, Mickelson has managed to get away with a triple bogey relatively under the radar.

On the short par-four third, the Lefty found the leftside fairway bunkers and misfired his second shot over the back of the green.

Normally a wizard around the greens, Mickelson’s shortgame magic abandons him as he attempts to nudge his ball on to the dancefloor.

It skirts around the hole and keeps going, going and going, leaving him with a 27 foot par back up the hill for par.

Again he slides it past the cup but has a six feet to escape relatively unscathed with a bogey. In theory, it should be easy. In reality, it’s far from that.

Mickelson implodes as he not only misses the bogey chance but he fails to knock in the tap-in for double bogey and suffers the blow of a triple.

Luke List is having himself a day!

There’s no one better on the course than the American right now. He’s the lowest scorer so far on moving day and that’s exactly what he’s doing -moving on up!

He makes back-to-back birdies at 13 and 14 to propel himself to four under for the day and two-over for the tournament.

After leaving himself work to do on the dancefloor at the first, Woods safely two putts for the par. Easy start, Tiger.

As expected, Hatton coverts his three-foot birdie chance and he joins his playing partner at one-over.

Just when it looked like McIlroy’s putter had completely abandonned him, it finally comes up clutch at the eighth.

He sinks from five feet for a much-needed birdie, which sees him move to four over for the tournament.

Tiger absolutely striped that drive 305 YARDS down the middle of the fairway, leaving him just under 150 into the green.

Should be simple stuff for the legend but he shockingly leaves it well short of the pin.

His playing partner, Tyrrell Hatton, has no such qualms, however, and sticks it to within three feet. It’s an absolute dart and surely a birdie incoming.

Oh, this group is going to be box office.

You only have to look at the number of patrons flocked around the first tee to know who’s up next.

That’s right. It’s Tiger time.

‘Forem pleae! Now driving, Tiger Woods,’ the announcer cries out to probably the loudest cheers we’ve heard all week.

Up steps the 48-year-old and he smokes it all the way to the flatter seciton of the first fairway. Perfect start.

He’s seven shots back of the lead but he very much believes e can hunt Scottie Scheffler and co. down.

Of course, the ultimate prize at Augusta National this week is a certain green jacket but there’s also a lot of money at stake.

Masters total prize money has gone from $18million (£14.5m) to $20million (£16m) this year.

Another missed putt for McIlroy and this time it’s for par, leaving him now five over for the tournament after that bogey on the sixth.

He hadn’t set himself up with much of a chance as he left his tee shot in a less than ideal spot, right at the very edge of the green. Let out a groan at that one.

Five-over for the tournament.

Thorbjorn Olesen has gone for the business casual look today.

The Dane looks like he’s about to step off the 18th green and head straight to the 18th.

It’s an immediate bounceback for Fowler at the 12th!

Lovely shot from Fowler as he rolls it in from the edge of the green at Golden Bell which sees him make a birdie and claim back that stroke he dropped at the 11th.

It’s a tale of two nines for our first pairing today.

Both Fowler and Matsuyama made sold starts on the front nine in an long-shot attmept to claw their way back into the tournament.

But they both falter on the first two holes of the back nine with Matsuyama making a bogey at the 10th before Fowler follows suit and aslo drops a shot at 11.

McIlroy squanders his bridie chance as his putt pull up short at the fourth but it’s an easy tap in for par and he remains even for the day.

Meanwhile Villegaes has taken his free drop from the grandstand and flicks his pitch shot over the bunker. It turns out to be a stunning up and dow too as he drains the 15-foot putt for par. Unbelievable save for Villegas

After another par save at the third, McIlroy zings in a lovely tee shot at the fourt to set up a birdie chance.

The same cannot be said for his playing partner Camilo Villegas. He sends his shot flying well over the back of the green and he really must have putt a lot behind that becuase he bounces out of the rough and up into the granstands.

Justin Thomas was even par for the tournament through 14 holes yesterday and on course to make the cut.

Then, he went and did this…

Absolutely brutal. At least he’s not alone, he has pal Spieth joining him.

After a woeful start at the first, where he missed a ten-foot par save, McIlroy has immediately bounced back.

His approach shot finds the sand at the second but he expertly splashes out with his third before rolling in his nine-foot birdie chance.

Back to four-over and still a whole lot of work to do.

The lead pair have headed into the tun after a solid first nine.

Fowler has settled down after a bogey at the first, carding two straight birdis and a string of pars to head to the back nine at five-over.

Meanwhile, Matsuyama holes out for birdie at the ninth for his third of the day and moves to three-over.

Wyndham Clark took a dig at LIV Golf’s rebels at The Masters following his opening round Thursday.

He went on to shoot a second round of six-over and miss the cut.

You could say that backfired…

While a lot of players are enjoying fast starts – Matsuyama and List, I’m looking at you – Olesen is suffering the exact opposite.

The Dane’s third round has come to a screeching halt. After managing to claw a shot back at the second, Olesen has made bogeys at the third and fifth, before making a double at the par-three sixth seeing him plummet to nine-over for the tournament.

After finding the rough on the right with his tee shot, McIrloy can only lay up to the first green.

With the pin at the back right of the green, he opts to use a lot of loft and takes about half the distance out of play. It’s a lovely, little pitch that rolls to three feet of the hole.

But after doing all the hard work, he can’t back it up and save par. His putt down the hill, doesn’t even touch the hole and keep trudling by to leave him a putt just as long back for bogey. Opeing with a five doesn’t really scream of a charge.

Rory McIlroy’s search for a green jacket is in its 16th year and it looks set to enter its 17th, unless he can perform a miracle today.

The Northern Irishman enters the third round 10 shots back of the leaders at four-over with a whole lot of work to do.

And he doesn’t make it any easier for himself, sending his drive off the first into the second cut of rough right of the fairway bunker.

Defending champion Jon Rahm is back out on the course to continue his luckluster title defense.

He snuck into the weekend – finishing one shot below the cut line – after a four-over-par 76 on Friday.

Rahm now sits 11 shots off the leaders as he heads out for his thrid round at Augusta National.

But he doesn’t manage to close that deficit at the first, walking off with a par.

Matsuyama looks to keep his momentum going but has a tricky uphill putt for birdie on the fifth to slash his score even further.

But he’s not given it nearly enough pace on it and he eventually has to settle for holing out for par.

Fowler also leaves his attempt short from the other side of the green and heads to the sixth with another par on his card.

I thought Fowler and Matsyuama’s starts were fast but they’ve got nothing on Luke List.

The American, who also started the day at six-over, birdies the first before backing it up with an eagle on Pink Dogwoood.

He drills in a beauty of an approach shot to the second green, leaving himself with 10 feet for eagle, which he rolls in, moving up the List.

Matsuyama is really taking moving day literally because my god is that man making mooooves.

The Japanese player comes so close to holing out on the fourth following back-to-back birdies.

His tee shot at the par-three found the sand but he splashes out and rattles the flag but his ball just stays out of the hole. He’ll hole out to stay at four-over.

Meanwhilem Fowler’s own birdie attempt just drifts right down the hill. Par for him too. With the exception of the first, it’s been a solid start for the American.

Woods may have made history already this week by making his 24th consecutive cut but just making it to the weekend isn’t enough. This man wants to win.

He’s said it counteless times over the past couple of years, he wouldn’t enter tournaments unless he believes he could win.

And he believes he’s got himself into a position to do exactly that.

If only we all had Tiger’s level of self-confidence. Or golf game for that matter.

It means I have a chance to win the golf tournament. Anyone who makes the weekend has a chance.

Fowler and Matsuyama are flying as they both pick up another shot at the short par-four third.

Fowler takes his time over a putt after a brilliant approach to three feet. His pondering pays off as he pours it into the hole for back-to-back birdies.

The 2021 champion drains a birdie putt of his own and continues to claw his way up the leaderboard to four-over. Still a long way off but it’s soemthing.

And the first moves of moving day have been made!

Fowler and Matsuyama make the first birdies of round three at the par-five second, which pulls the American back to even for the day at six-over and the 2021 champion to five-over.

How far back is too far back?

Under-par rounds were hard to come by on Friday. Rounds in the 60s even more so.

In fact, they were so hard to come by that onyl one man managed it; Ludvig Aberg.

The unflappable Swede, making his Masters debut, shot the lone sub-70 score on Day Two, firing a three-under 69 to work his way uo the leaderboard, despite the dificult conditions.

I always like to keep it very simple. I try not to do too much. But when it’s blowing as much as this, you almost have to fight it a little bit just to keep [the ball] somewhat straight.

Me and Joe talked about it quite a lot today, and just tried to give ourselves chances. You would prefer to putt from 40 feet than chip from 12. I think a lot of those times we’re not necessarily trying to go for the pin. We’re just giving ourselves chances, especially when the conditions are tough.

Fowler tries to scramble, bumping a chip shot onto the dancefloor to have 12 feet for par.

But he’s left it high and it rolls by the right edge of the cup, leaving him with three feet back for bogey.

Meanwhile, Matsuyama plays Tea Olive in a steady even par.

Fowler’s ball didn’t actually quite find the pines, just the rough. But he’s still left with a tricky shot into the green with the low-hanging branches blocking his view.

He tries to play a big high cut but it just doesn’t move coming out of that second cut of rough and it flies over the back left of the green into the patrons. And that’s far from an easy chip onto the dancefloor.

Just to give you some indication of how hard Augusta was playing yesterday, Saturday’s first group of Fowler and Matsuyama both start their third rounds at six-over.

Yes, you read that right, six-over. That was the cut mark… at a major championship.

But Fowler and former champion Matsuyama will look to claw their way up the leaderboard to a score that’s, well, just better than six-over.

They were probably already packing up their lockers and ready to head home after their rounds yesterday so they have nothing to lose, quite literally.

They get our 2024 moving day at The Masters underway with Matsuyama safely up the fairway, while Fowler finds the straw right of the fairway bunker.

We’re just five minutes away from the first pairing of the day, Rickie Fowler and Hideki Matsuyama, teeing off.

So here’s how the leaderboard stands heading into Day Three…

-6 M Homa, b DeChambeau, S Scheffler

-1 T Fleetwood, C Young, D Willett and others

E P Reed, S traka, M Fitzpatrick, X Scahuffele and others

+2 T Hatton, B koepka and others

Scottie Schefler’s pregnant wife Meredith didn’t make the trip to Augusta this year with his high school sweetheart set to go into labor any time soon.

And, in her absence. the World No. 1 revealed he had to cook his own breakfast yesterday morning. I mean, can you imagine?

Former USA Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson was caught angrily telling fans to ‘f*** off’ after missing a putt on Friday.

Johnson, who led the American team at last year’s Ryder Cup in Rome, was having a difficult second round at Augusta National.

He was scrambling to save a double bogey on the 12th hole when he missed a putt from around 10 feet.

After walking over to his ball and tapping it in from close range for a triple bogey, a ripple of applause emerged from the patrons gathered around the green.

Infuriated by the gesture, he angrily shouted ‘f*** off’ and it was picked up clearly by microphones nearby.

Out with Tiger today is one of LIV Golf’s latest rebels, Tyrrell Hatton,

Woods has made his stance on the Saudi-funded breakaway very clear in the past with Jon Rahm even claiming he received silent treatment from the 15-time major winner following his own defection.

And I can’t imagine this pairing is going to be any more talkative, somehow.

The most we’ll hear from this pairing is likely Hatton’s expletive profanities. At least the Englishman has the temper to deal with Woods’ galleries.

Now, Bryson DeChambeau has never held back from showing off his strength on the gold course but tearing up sign posts is a new one, even for him.

DeChambeau lost his way at the 13th, finding the sign in the way of his second shot. His solution? Simply yanking it from the ground. You know, as you do.

He looks like he has a cross to bear. Atoning for your LIV defection, Bryson?

It was just before 8am and Tiger Woods stood in shafts of glinting early morning sunlight at the foot of the slope that leads up to the 14th green at Augusta National.

He bumped a chip up towards the putting surface and watched it roll 22ft past the hole. He judged the line of his par putt perfectly but left it a foot short. He stared sullenly at his ball.

The pain in the limbs and the joints of Woods’s body, a body ravaged by time, misadventure and the relentless pursuit of greatness is at its worst after dawn and he thrust his hands deep into his pockets as he walked towards the 15th tee, his expression set and grim. People called out words of encouragement but he did not seem to hear.

This was the start of Tiger Woods’s longest day, a day when the weather, the fates and The Masters tee times had conspired to bequeath to this generation’s greatest golfer, a man held together by metal rods and spinal fusion surgery and ankle fusion surgery, the physical challenge of playing 23 holes before the end of the afternoon.

CLICK ABOVE TO READ MORE FROM OLIVER HOLT.

First group – 9:35ET/14:35 BST Rickie Fowler (US), Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn)

10:25/15:25 Jon Rahm (Spa), Grayson Murray (US)

10:55/15:55 Rory McIlroy (NI), Camilo Villegas (Col)

11:05/16:05 Joaquin Niemann (Chi), Min Woo Lee (Aus)

12:05/17:05 Akshay Bhatia (US), Shane Lowry (Ire)

12:35/17:35 Brooks Koepka (US), Taylor Moore (US)

12:45/17:45 Tiger Woods (US), Tyrrell Hatton (Eng)

13:15/18:15 Sepp Straka (Aus), Matt Fitzpatrick (Eng

13:55/18:55 Danny Willett (Eng), Ryan Fox (NZ)

14:05/19:05 Cameron Young (US), Tommy Fleetwood (Eng)

14:15/19:15 Ludvig Aberg (Swe),Matthieu Pavon (Fra)

14:25/19:25 Cameron Davis (Aus), Collin Morikawa (US)

14:35/19:35 Scottie Scheffler (US), Nicolai Hojgaard (Den)

14:45/19:45 Max Homa (US), Bryson DeChambeau (US)

Well it’s good news for Rahm today then! After his moan about the winds yesterday the Spaniard will be pleased to wake up to a forecast of ‘gentle breeze.’

I can’t promise that the greens of Augusta National will be playing any easier though as the surfaces will be a hard as they come after baking under full sun and 25C/77F temperatures.

Defending champion Jon Rahm just about avoided the embarrassment of missing the cut on his title defense but the Spaniard still had a moan about the weather conditions at Augusta yesterday.

He hit out at organizers of The Masters for their refusal to suspend play as 40mph winds caused chaos during Friday’s second round.

It’s about as hard a golf course as I’ve seen in a very long time.

A couple of times I was questioning myself why we were out there. Especially when I got to 18 and saw the whole front of the green just full of sand. It’s rolling a little bit different.

I understand they want us to finish. I can imagine they were very close to calling it a few times, especially when we were on the 11th green and we were getting those massive gusts every couple of minutes or so. It was extremely difficult.

It’s moving day at Augusta National and you know what that means – we’re in for a whole lot of action!

Augusta claimed a lot of victims yesterday – Justin Thomas, Sergio Garcia, Wyndham Clark, Viktor Hovland, Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson – but not the Big Cat.

That’s right, Tiger Woods made his 24th consecutive cut at The Masters. That’s a record, if you hadn’t heard.

He’s seven shots of leaders Scottie Scheffler, Max Homa and Bryson DeChambeau with the hunting pack hot on their heels. So, will anyone chase them down today?

Stay tunes as we bring you all the action from Day Three of The Masters.