In just his 17th major championship appearance, Collin Morikawa has a chance to hoist his third such trophy. The two-time major champion entered the week without the expectations of the 54-hole leader Scottie Scheffler at 7 under, but he stands just one stroke back of the hottest golfer in the world entering the final round of the 2024 Masters.
Morikawa was just one of two players to break 70 at Augusta National on Saturday; his 3-under 69 late in the day was only outdone by Chris Kirk's morning effort. To say Morikawa's presence on a major leaderboard is a surprise would be foolish, though he has not performed to expectation this season.
Struggling with his patented iron play, Morikawa -- regularly among the top three approach players on the PGA Tour -- entered the week ranked 80th in strokes gained approach. His superpower was amiss, and without it, the consistency and contention runs Morikawa had come to know were nowhere to be seen the first three months of the year.
But major championships tend to bring out the best in players, so let this serve as a reminder that Morikawa is one of the best.
Not only will he attempt to claim his third major on Sunday, Morikawa will attempt to clinch the third leg of a career grand slam. In possession of a Wanamaker Trophy and Claret Jug already, the 27-year-old's closet is missing green jacket ... but perhaps not for long.
Morikawa will be a member of the final pairing Sunday alongside Scheffler, but they will play just one group ahead of another young stud looking for a major moment. Ludvg Åberg, 24, was brilliant yet again at ANGC as he signed a 2-under 70 and positioned himself to become golfer in history to win the Masters in his first-ever major championship appearance.
His golf ball was on a string all day -- to no one's surprise -- and at one point, Åberg found his name atop the leaderboard. A couple poor mistakes late in his round dropped him from the leading pack to the chasing pack, but the Swede sits only three back of Scheffler entering the final 18 holes, and he may even swing his way into a green jacket if he keeps this up.
2024 Masters leaderboard, Round 3
1. Scottie Scheffler (-7): A birdie on the difficult 18th put Scheffler's name alone atop the leaderboard heading into the final round. It represents his second 54-hole lead in the last three Masters with the prior edge of three strokes producing a green jacket. The world No. 1 did not have his best stuff Saturday -- nor most of the week, for that matter -- but it didn't seem to matter. He missed a number of birdie chances on his first nine and made a huge tactical error on No. 10 leading to a double bogey. Another dropped shot came on the 11th before a massive par save on the par-3 12th turned the tide. Once as many as three shots back, Scheffler's eagle on No. 13 combined with other movement atop the leaderboard meant he was back in pole position. He tacked on another on No. 15 before playing the final three holes in even par.
2. Collin Morikawa (-6): It was a dream start for Morikawa as he went birdie-birdie-birdie out the gate to push his name up the leaderboard. A short missed putt for par came on the par-3 6th, but he made amends two holes later with his fourth birdie of his front nine. Morikawa then made 10 straight pars coming home including two on the par 5s that easily could have been birdies. It's not often a player gets a chance to grab his third different major in less than 20 starts, but Morikawa faces that opportunity Sunday.
3. Max Homa (-5): There are rounds in every major where the eventual champion just doesn't have it. They have to battle through the conditions and post a score. That's exactly what Homa did Saturday. Carding one bogey and 17 pars, Homa hardly lost any ground. He burned what seemed like a thousand edges on the greens, but he remained mentally strong and just kept plugging along. Sunday, he will have to go out and grab the green jacket as he is without a birdie now for 32 holes and without much room for error given the two names ahead of him.
4. Ludvig Åberg (-4): The major debutant looks cool, calm and collected. Åberg touched the lead at one point on his second nine thanks to playing his first 13 holes in 4-under fashion (without a bogey). Once he got to the top, the young Swede immediately dropped a pair, including a sloppy bogey on the par-5 15th when he was greenside in two. Still, he is right there to become the first debutant to win the Masters in 45 years.
5. Bryson DeChambeau (-3): The 18- and 36-hole leader's feel completely abandoned him on the second nine. DeChambeau played his first eight holes in even par and then jumped on the rollercoaster. He exchanged two birdies and two bogeys across his first five holes of the inward half, but then, the wheels began to fall off. A chunked pitch from roughly 45 yards right of the green on the par-5 15th found the water and led to a double bogey. A bogey followed on 16, but DeChambeau bounced back in an unlikely fashion thanks to a birdie hole-out from 77 yards on the 18th. He's still got a chance.
T6. Xander Schauffele, Cameron Davis, Nicolai Hojgaard (-2): Schauffele is sort of just hanging around. The Olympic gold medalist has yet to shoot over par this week with rounds of 72, 72 and today's bogey-free 70. He has only carded six birdies all tournament, but his avoidance of big numbers has been impressive. Schauffele said his goal was to get to 4 under, and he had his chances with birdie looks from inside 10 feet on the 8th and 9th that went by the wayside. Still, at 2 under, he's in contention.
"Just trying to play my way into the tournament," Schauffele said. "I just kept telling myself -- I looked up, and I know how hard it's playing, and if you start to get aggressive around the property you can pick up some shots going the wrong direction. My goal was to get to 4 today. I thought that was doable. I definitely had enough today to do it. Just kind of have to go out and shoot something ridiculous tomorrow."
T9. Cameron Young, Cameron Smith, Tommy Fleetwood, Byeong Hun An (-1): The Camerons both shot 72, but their rounds had the look of vintage Moving Day performances, especially that of Young. The one-time PGA Tour Rookie of the Year was 2 under through his first six holes but hit a wall in the form of a double bogey on the par-3 12th. He exchanged a couple birdies and a couple bogeys from there to remain in red figures for the tournament.
T13. Patrick Cantlay, Lucas Glover, Adam Schenk (E): Saturday was a vintage yellow-box performance from Cantlay. Not a factor across the first 36 holes, the former FedEx Cup champ kicked it into high gear when no one was looking. He had gotten it to red figures thanks to three birdies on the first three par 5s, but a dropped shot on the 18th means he will go into the final round with the same score he began this tournament, even par.
T21. Rory McIlroy, Will Zalatoris, Tyrrell Hatton, Joaquin Niemann (+3): McIlroy has sandwiched his second-round 77 with a pair of 71s, but the story here may be the two members of LIV Golf. Both Niemann and Hatton most likely need to finish inside the top 12 to earn invitations into next year's Masters. It's not too far-fetched, but they will need a Sunday to remember if they wish to drive down Magnolia Lane in 2025.
T52. Tiger Woods, Tom Kim and three others (+11): Tiger entered the weekend with momentum sitting T22 at 1 over having set an Augusta National record by making the cut for his 24th straight Masters. And then on the back part of his first nine, the wheels completely fell off. Consecutive double bogeys on the 7th and 8th took him out of the tournament, but it only got worse from there. Woods had two separate stretches in which he scored bogey or worse across four consecutive holes (Nos. 6-9, 14-17). That led to an 82, his worst round at the Masters, worst round at a major championship as a professional and second-worst round of his pro career. And yet, Woods will be back at it Sunday. "My team will get me ready," he said. "... It will be a long night and a long warmup session, but we'll be ready."
Rick Gehman, Kyle Porter and Greg DuCharme recap Moving Day at the 2024 Masters Tournament. Follow & listen to The First Cut on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.