Tiger Woods enlisted the help of his son Charlie before carding a battling 77 in his 100th round in the Masters.
Charlie was pictured seemingly giving his dad some swing advice on the practice range at Augusta National, advice he may even have welcomed following a demoralising third round of 82.
That was the five-time champion’s worst score in the Masters by four shots and meant an early tee time on Sunday alongside Neal Shipley, the only amateur to make the cut.
Woods started in style with a 360-yard drive on the par-five second to help set up a straightforward birdie, but bogeyed the third after his chip from short of the green failed to climb the steep slope and rolled back to his feet.
Worse was soon to come on the fifth as a wild drive into the trees meant Woods had to return to the tee to hit another ball and, after finding the green with his fourth shot, he compounded the error by three-putting for a triple-bogey seven.
Another bogey on the sixth and three subsequent pars took Woods to the turn in 40, the same score he opened with in 1997 before covering the back nine in 30 on his way to a 12-shot win.
It was also five shots worse than playing partner Shipley, but Woods typically refused to throw in the towel and covered the back nine in 37 with eight pars and a solitary bogey on the 15th.
“It was a good week all around,” Woods insisted.
“I think that coming in not having played a full tournament in a very long time it was a good fight Thursday and Friday, unfortunately yesterday didn’t quite turn out the way I wanted to.
“It doesn’t take much to get out of position here. Unfortunately, I got out of position a lot yesterday and a couple times today.
“Today, the round that Tom (Kim, who shot 66) is playing is what I thought I had in my system and I just didn’t produce it.”
Woods had previously targeted playing one tournament a month this year, with the remaining majors – the US PGA, US Open and Open Championship – the obvious targets.
“This is a golf course I knew going into it so I’ve got to do my homework going forward at Pinehurst and Valhalla and Troon but that’s kind of the game plan,” Woods said.
“I heard there were some changes at the next couple of sites so I’ve got to get up there early and check them out.”
Woods finished his round an hour before the final pairing of Scottie Scheffler and Collin Morikawa were due to tee off, Scheffler having birdied the 18th in Saturday’s third round to hole a one-shot lead over the two-time major champion.
Fellow American Max Homa was two shots off the lead, with Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg another stroke back and Bryson DeChambeau four adrift of Scheffler after holing his approach to the 18th from 77 yards on Saturday for an unlikely birdie.
History suggested the winner would be one of those five players, with the last 27 winners of the green jacket being within four shots of the lead after 54 holes.
Scheffler swinging with confidence at Tour Championship despite seeing lead cut to four
Scottie Scheffler insists his swing is "in a good spot" despite seeing his lead at the top of the Tour Championship standings cut to four shots on the second day.
Scheffler, who is aiming to win his first FedEx Cup title, carded 65 in his opening round and entered the second round with a 10-shot lead.
However, the world number one saw American duo Collin Morikawa and Xander Schauffele close the gap during a weather-disrupted second round on Friday.
Scheffler carded a round of 66 to take himself to 21 under par, aided by two birdies in the final three holes to keep the chasing back at bay.
"I feel like my swing is in a good spot, and I've hit it nice the last couple of days," he said. "A lot of quality stuff out there, and in a good spot going into the weekend."
Morikawa is four shots off the pace after producing a superb eight-under 63, which was the best round of the day, and has surged up the standings to second place.
In an impressive round, he dropped just one shot on the 11th hole, but made amends on the back nine before closing with back-to-back birdies.
"He's going to continue to make birdies," Morikawa said about the possibility of catching Scheffler. "He's driving it really, really well here, and you're giving yourself enough wedges to make some scoring opportunities out there.
"For me, it's just about bringing energy and just staying alive out there."
Schauffele is in third, one shot behind compatriot Morikawa, after shooting an impressive second-round 64 to remain in the hunt for the $25million prize money.
There is then a four-shot gap until a group of three players, including Adam Scott, are tied for fourth place at 12 under, while Rory McIlroy is tied for 10th place on eight under.
'Still feel like I've got a chance', says McIlroy as Scheffler takes Tour Championship lead
Scottie Scheffler is in prime position to win his first FedEx Cup title after storming into a seven-shot lead at the Tour Championship.
The world number one, who started on 10 under due to the FedEx Cup's staggered structure, carded a superb 65 in the first round of the PGA Tour's season-ending tournament, after recovering from an early bogey at East Lake.
Scheffler's haul included seven birdies, with five of those coming from his last seven holes, as he bids to win a seventh PGA Tour event of the season.
His main FedEx Cup challenger Xander Schauffele is tied for second on nine under par, along with Collin Morikawa, while Rory McIlroy is three shots back in T10.
However, the Northern Irishman has not given up hope of applying pressure to Scheffler as the tournament goes on.
"I'm happy with how I hung in there and had a good finish," McIlroy told Sky Sports.
"When I saw Scottie had gotten to 14, I was like, 'Oh, got to try to just hang on to the coattails a little bit'.
"Still feel like I've got a chance, and it was nice to finish the way I did."
Scheffler, also speaking to Sky Sports, said: "Yeah, I'm pleased with the day.
"I tried not to think about any sort of lead or anything like that, my job was to go out there and execute and I felt like I did a really good job of that. I felt like I was doing some good stuff to start the day.
"I had the bogey on one but after that I felt like I played some really good golf."
Bradley in disbelief after moving into FedEx Cup contention with BMW Championship win
Keegan Bradley was in disbelief after putting himself in FedEx Cup contention by winning his second BMW Championship title on Sunday.
Bradley, who was appointed as the United States' 2025 Ryder Cup captain last month, edged out Adam Scott to claim a one-shot victory at the event near Denver.
Scott pulled level with Bradley at the start of his final round but later bogeyed three straight holes as the American won his seventh PGA Tour title.
Bradley, who also won the 2018 tournament by beating Justin Rose in a play-off, now sits fourth in the FedEx Cup standings, behind Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele and Hideki Matsuyama.
Following his victory, the 38-year-old set his sights on another triumph at next week's Tour Championship in Atlanta, having only just squeezed into the 50-player field at Castle Pines.
"Oh, man, it just shows why you've got to grind it out every week because you never know how fast it can switch," Bradley said.
"Now I go to Atlanta with a chance to win the FedEx Cup. I can't believe it. I'm so excited.
"I'm in a bit of a state of shock because there was a time a week ago about this time that I didn't think I was going to be coming here.
"I had to have a lot of magical things happen for me to just play in this tournament, and when I got here, I was so grateful just to be here.
"I played with a real sense of calm all week, which is not the norm for me"
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