AUGUSTA, Ga. — Scottie Scheffler vaulted up the Masters leaderboard with a career-low round of 65 at the Masters on Saturday to sit at 7-under-par through three rounds.

Scheffler’s previous low round at Augusta National was a 66 in the first round of 2024, when he went on to win his second Masters title. As he walked off the course Saturday, Scheffler was in a tie for sixth, six shots behind leader Rory McIlroy, who was still playing the front nine.

“Went out and executed to give myself some opportunities, and more of that tomorrow, and I think I’ll be in a good spot,” Scheffler said.

His chances of capturing a third in 2026 appeared very slim as Scheffler began the third round at even par, 12 shots behind McIlroy after recording his second-highest score at Augusta National with a 74 on Friday.

Scheffler’s charge up the leaderboard started with an eagle on the par-5 second hole, where he knocked his approach to 6 feet. He then rolled in three consecutive birdies on hole Nos. 7-9 to make his turn 5-under 31. He added another birdie on the challenging par-4 11th to begin his trip through “Amen Corner.”

The momentum stalled out a bit from there, with Scheffler failing to pick up a stroke on either of the par-5s on the back nine. He did reach 7 under with a birdie on the par-3 16th and had a chance to close the gap even further, but his 8-foot birdie attempt on 17 slid right of the hole.

Scheffler pulled his drive left off the 18th hole and had to punch out from under branches. Just when it appeared his career-best score at Augusta National was in jeopardy, Scheffler knocked his third shot from 101 yards to 9 inches for a tap-in par.

“It definitely could have been lower. But like I said, I did what I needed to do,” Scheffler said.

His 65 on Saturday tied the tournament low thus far, matching the 65 McIlroy shot on Friday. However, Scheffler will be playing later in the day in Sunday’s final round, and expects Augusta National to play firmer and faster.

“It depends on what the leadership here wants to do,” he said. “It really depends on what they decide to do with the greens.”

“If they want to see some lower scores, they can make them softer if they want. I mean, they’re already pretty firm, so they can just go full Bay Hill and just let them die. It’s Augusta. They’ll figure it out after that.”

Other than his 66 in 2024, Scheffler’s lowest career Masters rounds had been a 67 in the second round en route to his first title in 2022. He has also carded four rounds of 68 through 27 career rounds at Augusta National.

–Derek Harper, Field Level Media