Ex Texas Longhorns Golfer Scottie Scheffler Take Back Masters Lead After Third Round

Former Texas Longhorns golfer and current No. 1 in the world, Scottie Scheffler, retook the 88th Masters lead on Saturday by carding a 1-under 71 after rounds of 66 and 72 respectively.

Apr 13, 2024; Augusta, Georgia, USA; Scottie Scheffler lines up his putt on the No. 17 green during / Adam Cairns, Adam Cairns / USA TODAY

Former Texas Longhorns golfer and current No. 1 in the world, Scottie Scheffler, retook the 88th Masters lead on Saturday by carding a 1-under 71 after rounds of 66 and 72 respetively for a total of 7-under for the week.

Dealing with conditions and pin placements that made the pro tour golfers look pedestrian on Saturday, Scheffler was one of a handfull of players to not let Augusta National make them look silly.

Apr 13, 2024; Augusta, Georgia, USA; Scottie Scheffler lines up his putt on the No. 17 green during / Adam Cairns, Adam Cairns / USA TODAY

Scheffler's card wasn't clean by any stretch, with three bogeys and a double to go along with three pars and an eagle. But a 35-36 was good enough to put him back in the lead heading into Sunday's final round.

Hot on the Texas Ex's tail is Collin Morikawa, who has a chance to lift his third major trophy in just his 17th appearance. Morikawa sits alone in second place at 6-under after a 69 in Saturday's third round. The Cal-Berkeley product was one of just two players in the field to break 70 on Saturday alongside Chris Kirk who sits at T13 at 1-over.

Max Homa sits alone in 3rd place at 5-under after another impressive round. Homa has shot 67-71-73 this week and is poised for his first major victory.

Former Texas Tech Red Raider Ludvig Aberg is in fourth place and might be Scheffler's greatest threat on Sunday after rounds of 69 and 70 on Friday and Saturday. The Swede has the rare opportunity to win the Masters in his first attempt.

It took a birdie on 18 for Scheffler to find the top of the leaderboard heading into Sunday. It's his second 54-hole lead at Augusta National in his last three tries, with the last coming in 2022 when he put on his first green jacket.

Without his best stuff this on Saturday - or this week for that matter - he was still able to contend with others who were clearly struggling more to tame the course.

He missed several birdie opportunities on Saturday's front nine and made a huge error on No. 10 that led to a double bogey. He dropped another shot on the 11th before a huge par save on the par-3 12th that set the tone for the rest of the back nine.

At one point, Scheffler was as many as three shots off the lead, but an eagle at No. 13 along with others faltering put the Longhorn back on top. He was able to add another birdie at 15 before finishing the final three holes with pars.

Scheffler and Morikawa will be in the final pairing on Sunday and will tee off at 2:35 p.m. ET.