AUGUSTA, Ga. — The door was open all day for Scottie Scheffler at Augusta National Golf Club.
The reigning Masters champion failed to take advantage time and time again, leaving him seven shots behind leader Rory McIlroy with a round left in his bid to join Jack Nicklaus as the only players to win the green jacket three times in a four-year span.
Scheffler wasn’t particularly sharp Saturday and failed to give himself many birdie opportunities. In fact, he spent the vast majority of the day scrambling to save par, and the reality is his par round of 72 could have been much worse.
He was at 5-under 211 for the tournament with 18 holes to go.
“At times I felt good, at times I felt bad,” said Scheffler, whose birdie on No. 2 suggested the start of a potential charge that never happened. “I just couldn’t really get anything going. I had to scramble a lot today, actually. I got off to a good start, but after that I didn’t really feel like I gave myself enough opportunities, and the opportunities that I did have, I didn’t really quite take advantage of.”