Scottie Scheffler will take a three-shot lead into the final round of the Masters Tournament as he looks to continue an incredible 2022 so far by claiming his first Major Championship.
The American carded a 71 on day three at Augusta National Golf Club to get to nine under and lead the way from Australian Cameron Smith, with South Korea's Sungjae Im at four under.
Ireland's Shane Lowry and 2011 winner Charl Schwartzel were then at two under with just seven players under par after a cold and windy day in Georgia.
Should Scheffler don a Green Jacket on Sunday evening, it would continue an astonishing run of form for a man who began the year ranked 12th on the Official World Golf Ranking but without a victory on the DP World or US PGA Tours.
He won his first US PGA Tour title on February 13 at the WM Phoenix Open and three weeks later he had another at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
It would be just another three weeks before he won his first DP World Tour and World Golf Championships trophy at the WGC - Dell Technologies Match Play, a victory that would take him to World Number One.
18 holes to play at Augusta 📊#TheMasters
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) April 9, 2022
He now has the chance to make it four wins in six starts and become the first player since Christiaan Bezuidenhout in 2020 to win back-to-back events on the DP World Tour, and the first since Jeunghun Wang in 2016 to claim his first two DP World Tour wins in consecutive events.
"I'm looking forward to the challenge of playing tomorrow," he said. "I'm just going to keep doing my thing, keep my head down and try and execute shots.
"I had a lot of fun out there. I talked about it at the beginning of the week that being in contention is what's fun, so being in the lead is fun. When I'm in the lead, I'm trying to stay in the lead and not really overthink things, just go out there and play golf.
"It should be a great fight tomorrow. Obviously, Cam is a tremendous player and he's got a fantastic short game and he's coming off a huge win at The Players. Both of us are in good form so I'm definitely looking forward to the challenge of playing with him tomorrow."
Lowry trimmed Scheffler's five-shot overnight lead as he made an up-and-down on the par-five second but, in the group behind, the 25-year-old followed suit and then put an approach to eight feet at the third to lead by six.
I'm looking forward to the challenge of playing tomorrow. I'm just going to keep doing my thing, keep my head down and try and execute shots
A three-putt from off the green at the fourth saw Scheffler make a bogey and Lowry briefly cut the advantage to four again as he holed a 16-footer on the sixth, only to see the leader hole from similar range at the same hole.
A wonderful pitch to six feet on the eighth put Scheffler six ahead and Lowry was seven back as he dropped a shot on the ninth.
Smith had got up and down on the second but gave the shot back on the next before putting his tee-shot to 15 feet on the sixth, holing from 12 feet on the eighth and leaving himself just seven feet on the tough tenth to become the nearest challenger.
The two-time DP World Tour winner pitched to 12 and five feet at the par-five 13th and 15th respectively and, with Scheffler dropping a shot on the 12th after finding the sand, all of a sudden the lead was down to three.
But Scheffler put his third at the 13th to five feet and Smith failed to get up and down from the sand on the 16th to extend the advantage back to five.
The Tournament leader. #themasters pic.twitter.com/b7ILAkZlyF
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 9, 2022
The leader came up short on the 14th and failed to get up and down and then three-putted the 15th to sit three ahead of Smith, who signed for a 68 that was the best round of the day by two shots.
A wonderful approach to five feet at the 17th saw Scheffler back into double figures but he did well to drop just one shot on the last, hitting a stunning third after having to take a drop out of the trees.
First-round leader Im looked in big trouble when he made a double-bogey on the second and dropped further shots on the fifth and sixth but the South Korean picked up birdies on the eighth, tenth, 12th, 15th and 17th to sign for a 71.
Lowry dropped shots on the 13th and 17th on the way home as he carded a 73, a score matched by Schwartzel.
The South African made a spectacular hole-out eagle from 136 yards on the tenth to go with birdies on the second and eighth but he dropped shots on the third, 11th, 14th, 16th and 17th.
Canadian Corey Conners and American Justin Thomas were at one under, a shot clear of 2016 winner Danny Willett.
