The back nine was not kind to Bryson DeChambeau. But after an 18th-hole miracle, “the Scientist” is just four shots off Scottie Scheffler’s lead heading into Sunday.
DeChambeau started the third round in a tie for the lead with Scheffler and Max Homa, but he’d fallen five back of Scheffler by the 18th hole. His back nine was the stuff of nightmares, featuring three bogeys and a double (complete with a chunk into the water) on the par-5 15th.
When he blocked his drive into the right trees off the 18th tee, he seemed destined for another square on the card to close a disappointing Moving Day. Then he conjured up a little Masters magic.
After punching out from the pine straw back to the fairway, DeChambeau flew his approach just right of the back right hole location at Augusta’s famous finishing hole. The ball took one bounce forward and spun back to the left, finding the bottom of the cup and sending the patrons into a frenzy.
DeChambeau raised his arms above his head as the patrons behind the green — who’d witnessed just two birdies at 18 all day — finally had something to roar about.
“Can you believe it?” Jim Nantz exclaimed on the CBS broadcast. “The unlikeliest birdie you’ll ever see.”
DeChambeau wasn’t asked about the shot after his round, but he did take an opportunity to poke fun at his putting struggles on the back nine.
“Eighteenth hole, I just figured [holing out] was easier than putting,” he said. “Jokingly, obviously.”
DeChambeau’s unlikely birdie put the finishing touches on a three-over 75 in Round 3. He will enter the final round four back of Scheffler’s seven-under lead.
“One shot completely changes how you look at DeChambeau’s chances for tomorrow,” Nantz said.
If DeChambeau does complete an improbable Sunday comeback, he can point to his final shot on Saturday as the turning point.
