The Masters 2024: final round at Augusta – as it happened

Bryson DeChambeau’s recovery continues apace! He hole a 30-foot putt from the fringe at 5 and that’s back-to-back birdies to wipe out the early pair of bogeys! If he’s taken a policy decision to play the rest of this round in a devil-may-care attitude with the handbrake off, the rest of the field watch out. Either way, this will surely be entertaining. He’s back to -3.

Tommy Fleetwood is doing all he can to haul himself into contention. He creams his approach at 7 from 106 yards to five feet, and in goes the putt for his second birdie of the day. He’s -3. Back on 4, pars for Ludvig Aberg and Max Homa, the latter saving the day with a perfectly weighted long bunker shot. And on 3, Scottie Scheffler drives into the bunker at the front of the green, then splashes out to three feet. In goes the putt, and despite nearly shipping shots on the first two holes, he’s saved his par on both of them before extending his lead. That’s steadied things nicely.

-8: Scheffler (3)
-6: Homa (4), Morikawa (3)
-5: Aberg (4)

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A par at the 18th for last year’s joint runner-up Phil Mickelson. He signs for a 74 today and finishes the week at +8. That’s a shot better than the man he shared second spot with 12 months ago. A 75 today for Brooks Koepka, who made four bogeys in the last six holes, and he ends the week at +9.

He’s yet to experience the back nine on Sunday, of course, but Ludvig Aberg seems unflappable. His chip into 3 topples off the side of the green, but a calm up and down keeps him at -5. Max Homa nearly makes it two birdies in a row, in London Buses fashion, but his 15-foot right-to-left curler dies an inch before the hole. Tap-in par, and he stays in a share of second. A backwards move meanwhile for Cam Smith at 5, as he fails to make a sandy par.

-7: Scheffler (2)
-6: Homa (3), Morikawa (2)
-5: Aberg (3)
-3: Schauffele (4)
-2: Fleetwood (6), Smith (6), DeChambeau (4)

Scottie Scheffler’s nerves betray him as he touches his ball while addressing the chip. He asks the gallery if it moved. Several patrons assure him that it did not. He bumps a gentle chip down to six feet, and tidies up for par. Meanwhile a three-putt par for his partner Collin Morikawa, and it’s been a steady but unspectacular start for the final pair. Meanwhile have we (OK, I) written off Bryson DeChambeau too soon? He rakes in a long birdie putt on 4 to return to -2.

Scottie Scheffler doesn’t seem on it at all during these early stages. He’s forced to take his medicine out of the fairway bunker at 2 … then flies the green with his third shot. He ends up in the patrons, and there’s not a lot of green to play with coming back.

Bryson DeChambeau looks a broken docket. He batters a drive down 3, but misjudges his chip up from the bottom of the big bank, and the ball rolls back down the slope and subsequently the fairway. He holds the green with his second attempt, but two putts later, that’s another shot gone. A 5-5-5 start, and his dreams of adding a green jacket to his 2020 US Open title must surely wait another year.

Homa had gone to school on Ludvig Aberg’s chip seconds earlier from the same spot. Aberg also landed his ball softly on the green, but it didn’t roll out. Homa chipped a bit further and flatter and, well, there we are. But no matter! Because Aberg calmly rolls his birdie putt in from 30 feet, having taken turns to go to school on Homa’s chip, which will have given him the line. Homa then tidies up and he’s back in birdieland! His first in 34! Could that release a logjam at the ideal time? It’s a boost all right. The pair walk off in high spirits, having given each other a leg up, whether they realise it right now or not.

-7: Scheffler (1)
-6: Homa (2), Morikawa (1)
-5: Aberg (2)
-3: Smith (4), Schauffele (3)

Max Homa has gone 33 holes without a birdie. He nearly breaks that sequence by making an eagle from the back of 2. A delicate chip from the back that only just lands on the green before rolling out and shaving the left-hand lip. If he doesn’t make the two-footer coming back, he may never make a birdie again. Meanwhile up ahead, it’s back-to-back birdies for Rory McIlroy at 8 and 9, and he rises to +2.

Hats off to Nicolai Hojgaard! A disastrous double-bogey start, but he’s responded spectacularly, with back-to-back birdies at 2 and 3. He returns to -2 in short order. Meanwhile on 2, Scottie Scheffler drives into a fairway bunker down the right; a slightly uncertain start from the world number one.

Xander Schauffele can’t make his eagle putt on 2. But it’s a tap-in birdie and the Californian moves to -3. Bryson DeChambeau can’t get close enough with his chip from the gallery, though, and two putts later it’s a disappointing 5-5 start for the big man. Back on 1, Collin Morikawa doesn’t give his birdie putt enough, like Ludvig Aberg before him, and is forced to settle for par. Scottie Scheffler is much happier with his par, chipping up to four feet after that poor approach.

-7: Scheffler (1)
-6: Morikawa (1)
-5: Homa (1)
-4: Aberg (1)
-3: Smith (4), Schauffele (2)
-2: Fleetwood (4), Hojgaard (3), DeChambeau (2)

An uncharacteristically weak iron into the 1st from Scottie Scheffler. His ball barely reaches the green, then topples back off it. Not too far down the fairway, but he’ll face a testing up and down to salvage his par. Collin Morikawa meanwhile finds the heart of the green. Of the two men, Morikawa’s the one trending in the right direction over the three days.

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Ludvig Aberg sets up a 15-foot birdie chance on 1, but fails to hit the putt. Never getting there, but never mind, he taps in for an easy par. He remains at -4. Meanwhile on 2, Xander Schauffele sends a gorgeous approach into the heart of the green. It takes the Louis Oosthuizen Highway, the slope of the green taking the ball around the bunker guarding front right and closer to the flag … but there’s never a danger of a repeat of Oosthuizen’s 2011 albatross, the ball stopping a good 15 feet short. But he’ll have a great look at eagle. Bryson DeChambeau meanwhile flies the green on the other side, his ball ending up in among some startled patrons.

The final group of the 2024 Masters Tournament takes to the tee. The leader Scottie Scheffler sends his opening drive down the middle. He’s aiming to become only the second player to win the Masters twice in his first five starts (after Horton Smith, 1934 and 1936). He’s heading round today with Collin Morikawa, who wants to join Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as a winner of the Masters, the PGA and the Open before the age of 30. He whistles his tee shot off nicely too. Everyone out! Here we go!

Tiger - his own-brand red shirt absolutely saturated in sweat, having fought the good fight this week - speaks to Sky Sports, and confirms he plans to play in the other three majors this year. “Hopefully I was going to shoot something in the 60s today … I thought I had that in my system … I hit a bad tee shot at 5 and never got it back … the rest of the majors is definitely doable … that’s about it … I said last year once a month, hopefully my body will co-operate.”

DeChambeau sends his second from the fairway bunker long and right. His chip up from the swale at the back is way too heavy, and he’s up and out of the long putt coming back with indecent speed. An opening bogey and there goes all that momentum from his dramatic hole-out on 18 yesterday. He’s back to -2. Meanwhile a birdie for Cameron Young at 3.

Cameron Smith makes the first big move of the day! He finds the bunker guarding the front of the par-five 2 in a couple of big hits … then gently splashes out and in for eagle! He springs up to -3. Birdie there too for the 2009 US Open champion Lucas Glover, who moves into red figures. Meanwhile back on the 1st tee, the penultimate group sets off. Both Max Homa and Ludvig Aberg split the fairway. Not long before everyone’s out!

-7: Scheffler
-6: Morikawa
-5: Homa
-4: Aberg
-3: Smith (2). DeChambeau
-2: Young (3), Fleetwood (3), Schauffele (1)

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It’s the worst possible start for Nicolai Hojgaard. He’s forced to chip out from the trees and doesn’t get particularly close with his wedge in. Three putts later, and that’s a double bogey. He’s level par. It’s gone horribly wrong for this week’s shortest-serving leader, who perhaps made it to the top without really being ready. (No Liz Truss comparisons, please; he doesn’t deserve those, and in any case you sense young Hojgaard will learn from his mistakes and prosper.)

Things are getting real now. Here comes Bryson DeChambeau, who looked to have thrown away any realistic chance of winning with that absurd double bogey on 15 last night. But holing out from 77 yards for birdie at the last changes everything. He’s just four back at -3, and hoping to become the first player to win from that position since Charl Schwartzel in 2011. Sending one’s opening drive into a fairway bunker isn’t the greatest start, though. He’s going round today with Xander Schauffele, who has notions of his own, with three top-ten finishes here already on his CV, including a tie for second and tie for third. He starts at -2, and finds the fairway with his opening shot.

Nicolai Hojgaard led the Masters for the briefest moment yesterday afternoon. But after rolling in a monster birdie putt on 10 to move to -7, the 23-year-old Danish debutant quickly became overwhelmed by his achievement, and proceeded to make five bogeys in a row. Whether he got any decent sleep last night as a result has not been reported, though the signs aren’t good, as he’s just snap-hooked his opening drive. As wild a tee shot as we’ve seen all week. Here’s hoping he gets a big break and regains his equilibrium toot sweet.

Tommy Fleetwood sends his wedge into 1 before giving it a contented twirl. His ball lands safely in the heart of the green. Then he rakes in a 25-footer for an opening birdie. The perfect start for the Evertonian, who will perhaps benefit from a little extra spring in the step in the wake of one of this afternoon’s football results. He’s -2. Also heading in the right way: Matt Fitzpatrick with birdie at 3. He’s level par.

The young Korean couldn’t get home unscathed. He went over the back of 17 and that’s never a good place to be, especially with the pin tucked on the narrowest section of the putting surface. He failed to hold the green with his chip back, though he did well to get up and down from the front for bogey. Par at the last, and that’s an excellent 66. He ends the week at +5, and for what it’s worth, he’s the new clubhouse leader. That particular crown is currently worth the square root of bugger all, of course, but it could be worth something later on should somebody further up the leader board make a break from the pack, and the greens harden in the late-afternoon sun as heartbeats begin to race.

Tommy Fleetwood is probably too far off the pace to win, six back at -1. Then again, Nick Faldo came from six back to slay Greg Norman in 1996, Gary Player won the 1978 tournament from seven behind, and eventual 1956 winner Jack Burke Jr. was eight adrift going into Sunday but ended a shot clear of Ken Venturi. So rule nothing out yet. Fleetwood cracks his tee shot down the middle of Tea Olive, and a fast start is essential if he’s to post something that’ll rattle the leading bunch.

At Tea Olive, the story of Rory McIlroy’s week in microcosm unfolds. A big booming drive down the middle. An approach that leaks left. A heavy handed chip. A bogey. His first move on every single day has been a backwards step, something that’s simply not sustainable at Augusta National. He’s since parred 2, 3 and 4 and is currently +4 overall.

Tiger traipses up 18. That 23-hole marathon on Friday emptied the well, and the weekend hasn’t been so good, but the great man feels the love from the patrons anyway. What an ovation! He nearly repays them with a little Tiger magic, this close to chipping in from the front of the green. He’ll have to make do with par and a final round of 77. He finishes +16 and currently 60th out of 60, but he’s become the only man to make 24 consecutive cuts in Masters history, and he’ll be back next year, health permitting. Neal Shipley meanwhile ends with bogey, but he’ll sign for a fine 73 before he takes receipt of the Silver Cup later on. Oh, and he’ll have a few stories to tell the grandkids, whatever the rest of his career brings.

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Is there a score out there today? Yes sir, yes there is, and Tom Kim is setting about proving it. The 21-year-old Korean is making his second Masters appearance, having finished in a tie for 16th last year on debut. He won’t finish so high this year – successive rounds of 78 and 77 have put paid to that – but he’s repairing the damage in sensational style today. Level par for his round through 6, he’s since birdied 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15 and now 16. He’s seven under so far with a round he could sell to one of the leading contenders for cash money. He’s +4 and not finished yet. A green jacket in waiting? You’d surely think so. Mind you, we said the same about Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler, Ernie Els, Tom Kite and Greg Norman, so you never can tell.

As for Tiger … well, qualifying for the weekend ensured he’d survived the Masters cut for a 24th consecutive time, a new record. But yesterday’s 82 was an awful struggle, and he’s not been going so well today either. A bogey at 15 when his young amateur playing partner was making birdie; a triple-bogey at the 5th. And yet there’s been a little glimpse of the old magic on 16. After he dumped his tee shot in the bunker at the front, he splashed out 20 feet past the flag, using the slope of the green to u-turn his ball and very nearly tickle it back into the cup, which is at its traditional Sunday location at the bottom of the sloping green. Such a shame it didn’t topple in, because it was vaguely reminiscent of …

… and guess who was sat on a greenside picnic chair watching on? None other than Verne Lundquist, whose IN YOUR LIFE! commentary paired perfectly with one of the greatest moments in Masters history, and who is hanging up his mic after this year’s event. Tiger spots Verne as he walks off the green having tapped in for par and there’s a warm handshake. In your life have you seen anything as sweet as that?

One way or another, there’s going to be a lot of heightened emotion today. So let’s start with one of the most romantic stories of the week. Neal Shipley, 23 years old from Pittsburgh, is the only amateur to have made it through to the weekend, thanks in no small part to a one-under first round of 71. That guaranteed him the Silver Cup and title of low amateur, but if his head hadn’t already been swimming, being paired with Tiger Woods on Masters Sunday would have done the trick. And how he’s performed. He’s level par for his round through 16, having just birdied 15 and nearly slam-dunked an ace on the following hole. What a fine performance by last year’s US Amateur runner-up. He’s +11 overall.

Here we go, then!

Welcome, patrons! If the final round of the 88th Masters tournament is even half as wild and wonderful as Moving Day …

… we’ll be in for a cracker. Will world No 1 Scottie Scheffler win his second green jacket? Will either Collin Morikawa or Bryson DeChambeau add to their major-championship resumé? Will Max Homa, Xander Schauffele or Tommy Fleetwood make their major breakthrough? Will Ludvig Aberg or Nicolai Hojgaard become the first player since 1979 to win on debut? Will something else happen? We’ll find out soon enough! Here’s the top of the leader board after 54 holes …

-7: Scheffler
-6: Morikawa
-5: Homa
-4: Aberg
-3: DeChambeau
-2: Schauffele, Davis, Hojgaard
-1: An, Smith, Young, Fleetwood
E: Cantlay, Glover, Schenk
+1: Kirk, Fitzpatrick, Reed, Pavon
+2: Straka
+3: McIlroy, Niemann, Zalatoris, Hatton, Willett

… and here’s when everybody tees off today. We’ll get going here at 6pm BST. It’s on!