Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg vowed to embrace his opportunity to make history in what promised to be a thrilling final round of the 88th Masters.
Aberg is making his major championship debut at Augusta National after only turning professional in June, but went into the last 18 holes just three shots off the lead held by world number one Scottie Scheffler.
No player has won the Masters in their first major start, while Fuzzy Zoeller was the last player to win a green jacket on their tournament debut in 1979.
“I think about it all the time. I’m OK thinking about it,” Aberg said after a third round of 70.
“Obviously I’m a competitor and I want to win tournaments. I feel very fortunate to be in this position and to be here playing golf.
“I don’t think you should shy away from it. I don’t think you should try to push it away. I try to embrace it, and I try to be okay with all that comes with it, I guess.”
Scheffler birdied the 18th in round three to claim a one-shot lead over Collin Morikawa, who would just be a US Open victory away from completing a career grand slam if he triumphs on Sunday.
Max Homa was two shots off the pace following a 73 containing 17 pars and one bogey, with Aberg another stroke back and Bryson DeChambeau four off the lead after a remarkable birdie on the last.
Shot of the day
Bryson DeChambeau was staring at a bogey and six-shot deficit before holing out from 77 yards for an unlikely birdie on the 18th.
Statistic of the day
Top statistician Justin Ray suggests the winner will be one of Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa, Max Homa, Ludvig Aberg or Bryson DeChambeau.
Quote of the day
Max Homa readies himself for a Sunday scrap at Augusta.
Hardest hole
Despite Bryson DeChambeau’s last-minute heroics, the 18th played as the hardest hole thanks to a fiendish hole location. A total of five birdies, 18 bogeys and six double bogeys resulted in a scoring average of 4.467.
Easiest hole
The eighth hole reclaimed its crown as the easiest hole from the second, yielding 27 birdies and just two bogeys for an average of 4.617.
Key tee times (all BST)
1435 Neal Shipley, Tiger Woods
1845 Cameron Young, Tommy Fleetwood
1905 Cameron Davis, Nicolai Hojgaard
1915 Bryson DeChambeau, Xander Schauffele
1925 Max Homa, Ludvig Aberg
1935 Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa
Weather forecast
Mostly sunny skies and above normal temperatures are forecast for Sunday and Monday with highs in the mid to upper 80s. The wind will remain light out of the southwest and likely average 7-15 mph each day.
PGA Championship: Morikawa and Schauffele share lead ahead of final round
Collin Morikawa and Xander Schauffele are joint leaders at the PGA Championship, with a host of contenders still in with a chance of triumphing going into the final round.
Schauffele crucially recovered from a double-bogey on 15 to birdie his last two holes on Saturday. That meant he finished on 15 under, carding a second successive 68.
Morikawa went one better with a four-under 67, so sits in a share of the lead in pursuit of his third major title, having recovered impressively from a bogey on two to produce a blemish-free round from there.
Sahith Theegala is only one behind the leaders at Valhalla Golf Club, while Shane Lowry, Bryson DeChambeau and Viktor Hovland are only two off the lead.
Lowry stormed into contention as he equalled the lowest round in men's major history during a sensational third round in Kentucky.
The Irishman carded nine birdies and no bogeys to set a new career low and jump to 13 under after being eight strokes off the lead at the halfway stage.
Lowry had the opportunity to produce the first '61 round' in a men's major history but missed the hole by mere inches on 18, settling for a record-equalling 62 instead.
It is just the fifth time a 62 has been carded at a major, with Schauffele doing it for the second time on the first day at Valhalla.
Robert MacIntyre and Justin Rose are also in striking distance, as they sit three shots off the pace after producing impressive rounds of 66 and 64 respectively.
Rory McIlroy, though, is seven shots behind Morikawa and Schauffele at eight under, level with Jordan Spieth.
And, after a tumultuous week, world number one Scottie Scheffler looks to have slipped out of contention after posting a two-over 73. He is on seven under in a tie for 24th position.
As for Schauffele, he has had 12 top-10 finishes at majors, including two second-place and two third-place finishes. He has lead since round one and will now look to finish the job on Sunday.
"Felt like I've had to work for a lot of my birdies the last two days," he said after round three.
"Haven't been able to make many putts. I feel like I'm still hitting the ball. Feel like I'm hitting the ball pretty nice.
"If I can just get the putter going a little bit, it should free me up."
PGA Championship: Lowry in contention with record-equalling round
Shane Lowry stormed into contention for the PGA Championship as he equalled the lowest round in men's major history during a sensational third round at Valhalla.
Lowry carded nine birdies and no bogeys on Saturday to set a new career low and jump to 13 under after being eight strokes off the lead at the halfway stage.
The Irishman had the opportunity to produce the first '61 round' in a men's major history but missed the hole by mere inches, settling for a record-equalling 62 instead.
It is just the fifth time a 62 has been carded at a major, with Xander Schauffele doing it for the second time on the first day at Valhalla.
Rickie Fowler had previously done it in round one of the 2023 US Open along with Schauffele, while Branden Grace was the first to do it at The Open in 2017.
"I just went out there with the hope of trying to get myself towards double digits," he told Sky Sports.
"I thought if I could get myself to 10 under today, I could give myself a chance going into tomorrow. I went out and got off to a great start, rolling putts in and felt great and just kept going. I enjoyed it. Myself and Justin Rose, we were great out there and just enjoyed every minute of it.
"It’s pretty cool to do something like this, but there is a lot more to do tomorrow."
Rose played a 64 to finish seven under on the round and moves to 12 under for the tournament.
Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy shot a three-under 68 to move to eight under par in the Championship, and reigning champion Brooks Koepka is now on four under after a 74.
Schauffele, Scottie Scheffler and Collin Morikawa were among the later starters in Kentucky.
PGA Championship: Woods determined to 'keep fighting' after missing cut at Valhalla
Tiger Woods vowed he would "keep fighting" after missing the cut at this year's PGA Championship.
The four-time champion will be absent from the weekend at the second major of the season, having carded rounds of 72 and 77 in Valhalla.
Woods concluded his opening round with a bogey-bogey finish, while he hit two triple-bogeys in the first four holes of his second round - doing so multiple times in a single round at a major for the first time.
The 48-year-old, who finished seven over par and 19 strokes behind halfway leader Xander Schauffele, was making his first appearance on the PGA Tour since last month's Masters, and knows he needs to improve ahead of the US Open at Pinehurst in four weeks' time.
When asked about his next steps, the 15-time major champion responded: "Just keep fighting. Keep the pedal on, keep fighting, keep grinding, keep working hard at posting the best score that I can possibly post. That's all I can do.
"I got off to a bad start [in the second round] and the rough grabbed me at [the second hole]. I compounded the problem there at [the fourth].
"[I] just kept making mistakes and things you can't do, not just in tournaments but in majors especially. I hung around for most of the day, but unfortunately, the damage was done early.
"I need to play more. Unfortunately, I just haven't played a whole lot of tournaments. Hopefully, everything will somehow come together in my practice sessions at home and be ready for Pinehurst."
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