LAST UPDATE | 9 Apr 2022
SHANE LOWRY ENJOYED a bright start to Round 3 of the Masters at Augusta but finished with a 73 as leader Scottie Scheffler continues to stand in control with a three-shot lead over Cameron Smith.
World number one Scheffler, who was five clear overnight, was ahead by six shots at one stage in his third round but endured a tricky back nine with his last seven holes mixing four bogeys with two birdies.
He hit a wild drive on 18 but took an unplayable lie and secured a fine result in the circumstances with a bogey. That left him with a 71 for the day and -9 for the tournament, three ahead of the Australian player Smith, who is in second place on -6, having picked up four shots today in a hugely impressive round of 68.
Only seven players are under par with Sungjae Im in third on -4 after a stunning back nine that saw him home in 32. Lowry is on -2 after his 73, alongside 2011 Masters champion Charl Schwartzel, who hit a memorable eagle two on the par-four 10th.
Justin Thomas and Corey Conners on -1 are the only other players in the red, Danny Willet is on his own on level par, while the group on +1 includes Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa and Dustin Johnson.
Lowry was two-under for his round after eight holes, the Offaly native picking up shots on the par-five second and the par-three sixth, and at one stage was only four shots behind Scheffler, in second place on his own.
But a misjudged wedge shot on the 9th, paved the way for a bogey that saw him out in 35 as he reached the turn in one-under for the day and -4 for the tournament. Lowry remained in that position with three straight pars to open his back nine, but a bogey on the par-five 13th was a mistake that saw him back to level par for the day, while he also dropped a shot on the 17th.
Elsewhere for the Irish contingent, Waterford’s Seamus Power shot 74 for the third successive day. The debutant battled his way to make the cut and is now six-over after 54 holes. He played solidly with eight opening pars but dropped shots on the 9th, 12th and 15th holes, before closing in positive fashion with a birdie on the 18th.
Rory McIlroy hit a 71 in his third round and is one-over for the tournament heading into the final day. He produced a couple of magical putts on the front nine to birdie the 4th and 7th, but that was offset by bogeys on the 1st and 6th.
Another setback arrived on the 12th with a bogey but he rebounded well with birdies on the 13th and 15th.
Tiger Woods struggled through pain and fatigue to his worst-ever Masters round on Saturday, firing a six-over par 78 in the third round.
Woods continued his incredible comeback 14 months after suffering severe leg injuries in a car crash, but finished with bogeys at 16 and 17 and a double bogey at the 18th.
The 15-time major champion finished 54 holes at Augusta National on seven-over 223 and walked off the course 18 strokes adrift of leader Scottie Scheffler.
The worst prior Masters round for Woods was a 77 he shot in the third round of his 1996 Masters debut as an amateur.
Woods was hospitalized for weeks and unable to walk for months after a February 2021 rollover car crash before battling his way back through rehabilitation to end a 17-month hiatus this week, fighting off pain with every step over hilly Augusta National.
Striding through a stamina test over the 7,510-yard layout, the 46-year-old legend played 18 holes for a third consecutive day for the first time since the accident.
- Additional copy by AFPn
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