World No.1 Scottie Scheffler has fired up to snare the third-round clubhouse lead on a spectacular moving day at the Masters.
Showing the field the way, Scheffler carded a sparkling seven-under-par 65 to surge to seven under for the tournament as golf's biggest names attempted to hunt down runaway leader Rory McIlroy.
After opening his title defence with rounds of 67 and 65, McIlroy built the biggest 36-hole lead in the Masters' 90-year history but was quickly feeling the heat in scorching Georgia on Saturday (Sunday AEST).
In an incredible start, McIlroy had his overnight advantage slashed to just two when he bogeyed the first hole and 2018 champion Patrick Reed birdied his first three.
But while Reed cooled off and slipped back from nine to seven under, five behind a steadying McIlroy, Scheffler proved the biggest mover of the day.
The 2022 and 2024 champion ignited his round early with an eagle at the par-5 second before reeling off four birdies in five holes around the turn to vault to six under.
He collected another at the 16th, but rued missing a series of other short birdie putts that could have had the American threatening to break the course-record 63 jointly held by Greg Norman and Nick Price.
Still, Scheffler was safely in the clubhouse, five shots off the pace as McIlroy braced for the chasing pack to continue turning up the heat in the windier, late-afternoon conditions.
Earlier, in a glimpse of what was to come, Patrick Cantlay had seized the clubhouse lead at six under with his own special round of 66.
Irish showman Shane Lowry also electrified the galleries on Saturday with his second Masters hole-in-one, this one coming on the sixth to also throw down the gauntlet to his great mate McIlroy.
Lowry pulled to within three shots of his Ryder Cup teammate with a birdie at the par-5 eighth to move into a tie for second at nine under with China's Haotong Li.
Lowry's latest heroics continue his penchant for aces on golf's grandest stages.
The former US Open champion also holed out at Augusta's iconic 16th hole in 2016 and aced the island 17th at TPC Sawgrass and the seventh at Pebble Beach.
A day after "living in the toilet" with food poisoning, Li has somehow found himself in Masters contention instead.
He played the front nine in five under.
Australian Jason Day was not completely out of it after advancing to five under by the turn to be tied for 12th, seven strokes adrift of McIlroy, who had played seven holes of his third round.
