Moving day lived up to its name in a big way. Cameron Young and Scottie Scheffler led the field with 65s, as Young’s was good enough to put him in a tie at 11-under with Rory McIlroy, who looked to have a pretty strong grasp on the lead after 36 holes at 12-under, but he shot a 73 and the field drew closer as a result. Sam Burns, who was the co-leader on Monday, shot a 68 to sit in solo third place, while Shane Lowry bagged an ace and also had a 68 to hold solo fourth. Jason Day and Justin Rose are tied for fifth.
But, the big day for Scheffler got a lot of people talking, as he followed up Friday’s 74 with a Saturday 65 to move into the top 10 and go up 17 spots on the leaderboard. Patrick Cantlay also made a huge move, as did Russell Henley, as those two are tied for ninth at 6-under.
It sure looked like McIlroy was well on his way to a repeat, but now we’ve got a ton of Sunday drama at Augusta National.
VSiN’s golf experts offered their second-round observations and third-round predictions . . .
Wes Reynolds
It looked all but over at Augusta National, but Rory McIlroy immediately opened the door with a bogey on the first hole. The missed fairways finally caught up with the defending Masters champion ranking dead last for Driving Accuracy (21-for-42; 50%) out of all 54 players that made the cut. Plus, he lost nearly four strokes on approach (53rd out of 54 on Saturday).
Yet, McIlroy (+150 to win) still holds the co-lead at 11-under and is 5 for 7 in converting 54-hole leads or co-leads in major championships. He does now have company at the top as Cameron Young (+250) shot 65 to post 11-under. Young shot 40 on the front nine in Thursday’s first round. THE PLAYERS Champion has shot 15-under over his last 43 holes. Young was 5/1 last night when we recommended him for the Low American market. He is now around even money as he is one shot ahead of Sam Burns (6/1), who did not fold under the pressure of being in the final pairing.
There are plenty of other chasers who McIlroy let back in it including arguably his best friend on the TOUR Shane Lowry (+1250), who is two back at 9-under, Jason Day (22/1), and Justin Rose (15/1), the man McIlroy beat in the playoff to complete the Career Grand Slam last year. Both are 8-under.
Then, there is Scottie Scheffler (9/1), who just never goes away even when not at his best. The World No. 1 shot a 7-under 65 to give himself a chance for his third green jacket in five years. He looked like the Scottie of old by gaining 5.5 strokes on approach in Round 3. Scheffler led the PGA TOUR for Strokes Gained: Approach for each of the last three years. This year, he dropped to 80th in the category heading into this week.
Ludvig Åberg also caught Kristoffer Reitan for the Low Nordic market as both are 3-under. Åberg was +152 last night and is now -166 with Reitan being +194. So, there is potential to lock in some profit here if you bet the Swede last night.
As for who wins tomorrow, I am hopeful for Cameron Young with a pre-tournament bet on him. At some point tomorrow, I may take a position on Rory to hedge off other futures, but my gut thinks that Young gets it done tomorrow. Although Rory was in dominant position and is still the rightful favorite, Young has played the best golf of anyone in this field over three days. He has three top 4 finishes in major championships over the last four years. In addition, he won a big-time event last month at THE PLAYERS Championship, so he is not foreign to the pressure on Sunday at the majors.
Matt Youmans
Scottie Scheffler was a few inches away from firing a 10-under 62 on Saturday and had to settle for 65, his lowest score in 27 rounds at Augusta. Scheffler started the run at Rory McIlroy, several other players followed and McIlroy’s supposedly commanding lead was gone by the time he walked off the 12th green. It was a wild third round at the Masters — the type of day when you watch five hours of golf and never want to take your eyes off the TV — and Sunday should be even better. This is “Golfers Gone Wild.”
McIlroy continues to be the wildest player off the tee. I’m guessing he already holds the Masters record for total drives hit into the trees, spending as much time in the woods as a lumberjack. Still, he’s the co-leader with Cameron Young, who overcame a clumsy shot into the water. McIlroy was the -250 favorite going into the weekend and now sits at +150, according to DraftKings. Young is the second choice (+255), followed by Sam Burns (+620). The pressure will be cranked up Sunday afternoon, so it’s fair to be skeptical of Young and Burns getting it done because neither player has won a major. Young has top five finishes in the other three majors and his previous best finish at Augusta was a tie for seventh in 2023. Burns’ only top 10 in a major was in the U.S. Open last summer, but he’s a more confident contender now.
I made a pre-tournament bet on Young to finish top 10 at +170, but have nothing on McIlroy and Burns. I will probably place a bet on Rory, although he seems shaky after squandering a six-shot lead, and I’m only considering it due to the plus price and the fact I have futures on Scheffler (+550), Justin Rose (60-1) and Jason Day (100-1). Day and Rose are each three strokes back and Scheffler trails by four, yet trailing is not a bad situation as the Sunday chasers are always more aggressive than the leaders. Shane Lowry, who had an ace and a water ball Saturday, is also in the hunt while trailing the leaders by two. With seven legit contenders, it’s tough to hedge at this point, but the live betting markets will attract lots of action Sunday.
Scheffler will show up again, and McIlroy is not going away. It’s just a wild guess who’s going to win the green jacket, but here’s hoping it’s Rose, who has been an Augusta bridesmaid three times and is overdue.
Kelley Bydlon
The third round of the Masters started with Rory McIlroy seemingly having a stranglehold on the tournament, but after a rough front nine, he found himself with company at the top of the leaderboard on a very scoreable saturday.
Luckily for me and the rest of the Long Shots crew, Cameron Young was the highlight of a large group of quality players that shot low. Oh, he and Scottie Scheffler, who confidently said after his round that he’s “Still in the tournament”, and it sure looks like he’ll have a chance on Sunday. I will just be rooting for Young to get home at this point and a bunch of finishing position bets and matchups that are total toss ups at this point. It could be a big swing final round for me.
If I wasn’t involved with anything, a Scottie Scheffler live top 5 sure looks tempting. I might have a couple round matchups up later on our Golf Betting Picks page. 3-1 on those so far through the tournament.
Matt Brown
Coming soon.
