A quick look at Sunday at the Masters:
They said it
* “I’m coming home. I’ll be home as quick as I can. Yeah, I love you and I’m coming home. That’s all.” – Scottie Scheffler on the message to his wife, Meredith, who is back home in Texas awaiting the birth of their first child
* “It was a good example of just keep playing, just to make sure to keep the ball in front of you, and there’s a lot of holes left to be played. I think me finishing well after those couple holes were pretty encouraging to see.” Ludvig Aberg on responding after a double-bogey on No. 10 to finish second
* It’s bittersweet, I guess, because I feel accomplished but I feel like it doesn’t really mean anything in the grand scheme of things. But I just feel like I learned. I feel like I took a big leap. The rhetoric on me, and this is from myself, as well, is I have not performed in these things, and I performed for all four days.” – Max Homa, who tied for third
* “The Masters stands alone in terms of every other golf tournament, but I think even in terms of the ratings the first two days on ESPN looked like they were up, which is a sign that when we’re all back together, then golf thrives. When we’re divided, it doesn’t. That’s just another example of why we should all try to put our heads together and get back together.” – Rory McIlroy on rift between PGA Tour and LIV Golf
* “You know, playing with Tiger, Sunday at the Masters, the whole week, I think I have to win one of these things to kind of top this week. Definitely been a dream week but looking forward to being out here soon hopefully.” – amateur Neal Shipley
* “Thrilled to be here. Absolutely thrilled.” – CBS broadcaster Verne Lundquist as the final group of Scottie Scheffler and Collin Morikawa walked up to the 16th green as he called his 40th and final Masters from his long-standing position
Shots of the day
* Scottie Scheffler finished an up-and-down front nine with a brilliant second shot on No. 9. Facing a 100-yard approach, Scheffler hit it behind the pin and rolled in back, using the slope, to within three inches. He tapped in for a birdie that moved him to 8-under par. It gave him the lead after Ludvig Aberg had birdied the hole with a long putt in the group ahead to join Scheffler and Collin Morikawa at 7-under.
* Scheffler did it again on No. 14. As he held a two-shot lead at 9-under, Scheffler hit his approach, with a pitching wedge from 153 yards, to within a foot from the cup. The tap-in gave him back-to-back birdies and a three-stroke lead. Talk about sending a message.
* Want another one? Scheffler made a nine-foot birdie putt on No. 15 to go to 11-under par and took a four-stroke lead with two holes to play. It was his third birdie in four holes.
The streaks continue
Scottie Scheffler was second after the first round and tied for first after the second round. That means that the winner of the Masters has been in the top-10 on the leaderboard after the first round all but twice in the past 20 years and 37 of the past 38 champions have been in the top-10 after the second round.
Did you know
* The top three players on the leaderboard entering the final round all represented the United States (Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa, Max Homa). The last time that occurred at the Masters was in 2006 (Phil Mickelson, Chad Campbell and Fred Couples).
* Saturday’s third round marked just the second time since World War II that Nos. 17 and 18 ranked as the two most difficult holes during a round at the Masters. It also happened in 2002 (third round). The par-4s played to a 4.467 (18) and a 4.417 (17). No 18 played the hardest in Round 1 and was tied for second in Round 2. No. 17 was tied for sixth in Round 1 and 11th in Round 2.
* This was the second time in the last 70 years that only one former Masters champion (Scheffler) is among the top 15 on the leader board entering the final round. It also occurred in 2020 (Patrick Reed).
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