Where is Scottie Scheffler? Defending champ quiet on Masters Moving Day
AUGUSTA — Rory McIlroy had a ripping hot round.
Justin Rose tumbled out of the lead.
Bryson DeChambeau and Corey Conners gained ground, and past winner Patrick Reed stormed into the top 5.
The Masters third round on Saturday was a flurry of action, typical for what is billed as Moving Day.
One major contender remained quiet — defending champion Scottie Scheffler.
The world’s top-ranked golfer started the day at 5-under for the tournament. That’s where he finished the third round, seven shots behind McIlroy in the lead.
“At times I felt good, at times I felt bad,” Scheffler said. “I just couldn’t really get anything going.”
Scheffler started off well enough with a birdie at the par-5 second hole. But bogeys at 7 and 12 pushed him down the leaderboard before a birdie at 15 righted the ship.
Scheffler managed to shoot a 72, his ninth consecutive Masters round at par or better to set a personal-best streak.
He has work to do in Sunday’s final round — and will need help from others — to become the fourth player to win the green jacket in back-to-back years.
“Have a good front nine and start moving my way up the leaderboard,” Scheffler said, “and you never know what can happen on the back nine.”
Who is Nicolas Echavarria? Long shot cracks the top 10 in Masters debut
No player has ever won the Par 3 Contest and Masters in the same year.
Nicolas Echavarria is attempting to snap the decades-long drought in his Masters debut.
He won the Par 3 Contest on Wednesday in a playoff against J.J. Spaun. He cracked the top 10 at 4-under for the tournament on Saturday during the third round.
Echavarria, 30, is the fourth player from Colombia to compete in the Masters, joining his mentor Camilo Villegas, Miguel Sala and Sebastian Munoz. Echavarria attended the University of Arkansas, turned pro in 2017 and resides in Ponte Verde Beach, Fla.
In 2024, he represented Colombia in the Paris Olympics and won his second career PGA Tour event in Japan.
He scored a 3-under 69 on Saturday after shooting a 73 and 70 in the first two rounds.
Echavarria’s pre-tournament odds to win: +35000
Masters third round leaders
- -12 | Rory McIlroy (F, 66)
- -10 | Bryson DeChambeau (F, 69)
- -8 | Corey Conners (F, 70)
- -6 | Patrick Reed (F, 69)
- -6 | Ludvig Aberg (F, 69)
- -5 | Justin Rose (F, 75)
- -5 | Jason Day (F, 71)
- -5 | Scottie Scheffler (F, 72)
- -5 | Shane Lowry (F, 72)
Rory McIlroy gets off to historic start in Masters third round
Rory McIlroy started his Masters third round Saturday with a 371-yard drive on the first hole.
He birdied the par-4 and then reeled off a historic start. He eagled No. 2 and birdied 3 and 5. He became the first golfer in Masters history to start a round with 6 straight 3s on his scorecard.
That pushed the No. 2 ranked golfer in the world to the lead, ahead of Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Rose, who paced the field after both the first and second days.
McIlroy is the sixth player in Masters history to score four-under par on Nos. 1-3, joining Sam Burns (2023), Mark O’Meara (2001), Jodie Mudd (1987), Ben Crenshaw (1976) and Roberto De Vicenzo (1968).
Former Masters winner Zach Johnson makes his move early in Saturday’s third round
A former Masters winner marched up the leaderboard early on Saturday.
Zach Johnson, the 2007 champion, eagled 2 and then bogeyed 6. He third round score moved the needle once he hit the second nine.
He carded birdies at 10, 12, 13, 15 and 16 to move inside the top 10 at 5-under, three shot off leader Justin Rose.
He gave a shot back at 17, but the St. Simons resident emerged as the first big mover of the day.
Johnson finished the round at 66, the fifth oldest player — at 49 years, 47 days — to shoot 66 or better in a Masters round. Ben Hogan holds the distinction, shooting a 66 at age 54 in 1967.
This is the Masters leaderboard we deserve on Moving Day at Augusta National
This is a Masters leaderboard capable of drawing in hardcores and casuals and know-nothings all the same.
Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, the top two-ranked golfers in the world enter Saturday’s third round, in the top 5.
There’s potential there for the type of clash on Sunday that folks remember for decades. But it’s OK if events today — known as Moving Day — give us something else.
This is the third time that Justin Rose, the leader at 8-under, has been on top at the end of the first and second rounds of the Masters. He did it in 2004 and 2021, the gap in years proving how long he’s been a fixture at this tournament.
Rose is the only player to be halfway to a wire-to-wire win three times, yet he’s never finished one off. Twice a runner-up, a victory on Sunday for Rose is the resiliency angle that Augusta National makes seem so satisfying. It’s difficult here. Almost impossible to win, even for somebody like Rose, 44, who plays well around this place more consistently than most. Nobody deserves anything, not in golf and especially not at the Masters. But Rose finally slipping on a green jacket would feel right.
Then there’s Bryson DeChambeau. Some people love him, others take a pass. He’s one shot off Rose, finished tied for sixth here last year and seems capable and willing to dial back his aggressive brand of golf that can lead to disaster here.
Some in the mix competing for their first green jacket that you’ve probably heard about before: Corey Conners (three straight top 10 Masters finishes from 2020-22), Tyrrell Hatton (has recorded top 10 finishes at every major) and Shane Lowry (has top-five finishes in all four major championships, including a win at the 2019 British Open).
And Viktor Hovland, a two-time Olympian who likes to talk about UFOs and the potential for life in other galaxies.
Other players you might not know with a chance to become a household name in the next 36 hours: Matt McCarty and Rasmus Højgaard go off Saturday in the top 10 on the leaderboard.
That’s plenty of diversity for rooting interests. Take your pick. Just know, you almost certainly need to be near the top of the heap at the end of Saturday to have a shot to win.
2025 Masters third round tee times and pairings. When will Scottie Scheffler start on Saturday?
Definitive statements are easy to come by on Saturday before the Masters third round gets rolling.
This is Scottie Scheffler’s Masters to win. Again.
Justin Rose will finally close it out.
The time has come for Rory McIlroy to complete the career Grand Slam.
There are those narratives and names like Bryson DeChambeau, Corey Conners and Tyrrell Hatton to drive the show on Moving Day at Augusta National.
2025 Masters third round tee times, Saturday pairings
- 9:50 a.m. – Tom Kim
- 10:00 a.m. – Joaquín Niemann, Jordan Spieth
- 10:10 a.m. – Stephan Jaeger, Max Greyserman
- 10:20 a.m. – Danny Willett, J. T. Poston
- 10:30 a.m. – Jon Rahm, Zach Johnson
- 10:40 a.m. – Patrick Cantlay, Akshay Bhatia
- 10:50 a.m. – Denny McCarthy, J.J. Spaun
- 11:10 a.m. – Maverick McNealy, Charl Schwartzel
- 11:20 a.m. – Brian Campbell, Byeong Hun An
- 11:30 a.m. – Aaron Rai, Justin Thomas
- 11:40 a.m. – Sahith Theegala, Davis Thompson
- 11:50 a.m. – Matt Fitzpatrick, Wyndham Clark
- Noon – Nick Taylor, Daniel Berger
- 12:10 p.m. – Tom Hoge, Max Homa
- 12:30 p.m. – Harris English, Min Woo Lee
- 12:40 p.m. – Sam Burns, Nicolas Echavarria
- 12:50 p.m. – Brian Harman, Bubba Watson
- 1:00 p.m. – Davis Riley, Michael Kim
- 1:10 p.m. – Xander Schauffele, Tommy Fleetwood
- 1:20 p.m. – Patrick Reed, Collin Morikawa
- 1:30 p.m. – Ludvig Åberg, Hideki Matsuyama
- 1:50 p.m. – Jason Day, Sungjae Im
- 2:00 p.m. – Rasmus Højgaard, Viktor Hovland
- 2:10 p.m. – Scottie Scheffler, Tyrrell Hatton
- 2:20 p.m. – Matt McCarty, Shane Lowry
- 2:30 p.m. – Rory McIlroy, Corey Conners
- 2:40 p.m. – Justin Rose, Bryson DeChambeau
Masters leaderboard, who made the cut
- -8 | Justin Rose
- -7 | Bryson DeChambeau
- -6 | Rory McIlroy
- -6 | Corey Conners
- -5 | Matt McCarty
- -5 | Shane Lowry
- -5 | Scottie Scheffler
- -5 | Tyrrell Hatton
- -4 | Rasmus Højgaard
- -4 | Viktor Hovland
- -4 | Jason Day
- -3 | Sungjae Im
- -3 | Ludvig Aberg
- -3 | Hideki Matsuyama
- -3 | Patrick Reed
- -3 | Collin Morikawa
- -2 | Xander Schauffele
- -2 | Tommy Fleetwood
- -2 | Riley Davis
- -2 | Michael Kim
- -2 | Brian Harman
- -1 | Bubba Watson
- -1 | Sam Burns
- -1 | Nicolas Echavarria
- -1 | Harris English
- -1 | Min Woo Lee
- E | Tom Hoge
- E | Max Homa
- E | Nick Taylor
- E | Daniel Berger
- E | Matt Fitzpatrick
- E | Wyndham Clark
- E | Sahith Theegala
- E | Davis Thompson
- E | Aaron Rai
- E | Justin Thomas
- +1 | Brian Campbell
- +1 | Byeong Hun An
- +1 | Maverick McNealy
- +2 | Charl Schwartzel
- +2 | Denny McCarthy
- +2 | J.J. Spaun
- +2 | Patrick Cantlay
- +2 | Akshay Bhatia
- +2 | Jon Rahm
- +2 | Zach Johnson
- +2 | Danny Willett
- +2 | J.T. Poston
- +2 | Stephan Jaeger
- +2 | Max Greyserman
- +2 | Joaquin Niemann
- +2 | Jordan Spieth
- +2 | Tom Kim
About the Author
Fletcher Page is Athens bureau chief covering northeast Georgia for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
