The Masters 2022: third round – live! | The Masters

News of the 18-hole leader Im Sung-jae. The 2020 joint runner-up slipped back into the pack after a double bogey on the opening hole. He flew the green from the centre of the fairway, couldn’t get all the way back up from the swale at the back, and took three to get down from the fringe. He’s currently -1 overall through 3.

Scheffler sets himself up with a chance to get to double figures on 3. A low-flighted wedge that bites ten feet past the hole. At the moment, he’s giving the field nothing. They’ll have to do it themselves, on current evidence, and so Cam Smith rattles in a 20-footer on the par-three 6th to move to -3.

Will Zalatoris, having taken one step forward with that chip-in on 5, takes one back with a thinned wedge on 6. He’s -1. He’s alongside Collin Morikawa, the Open champion enduring an uneven front nine, following up birdie at 3 with bogeys at 4 and 5 and another birdie at 6. Meanwhile on 7, Danny Willett rattles in a 30-footer, and though it’s just for par – he flew a sand shot well past the hole – it’ll feel like a birdie. He stays at -1.

A slightly disappointing end to Tommy Fleetwood’s round. Bogey at 17 means he has to settle for a two-under 70. Southport’s finest ends a productive day having moved up the standings to +1, and with Everton less likely to be relegated than they were 24 hours ago. Meanwhile garden-variety birdies for Scottie Scheffler and Charl Schwartzel in the final group, and the leader re-establishes his five-shot cushion at the top.

-9: Scheffler (2)
-4: Lowry (2), Schwartzel (2)
-3: D Johnson (4)
-2: Thomas (7), Smith (5), Na (4), Matsuyama (3)

Shane Lowry is the first man to take a nibble into Scottie Scheffler’s lead. Just short of the green in two, he bundles a chip up to three feet, and tidies up for birdie.

-8: Scheffler (1)
-4: Lowry (2)
-3: D Johnson (4), Schwartzel (1)
-2: Thomas (7), Zalatoris (5), Smith (4), Conners (4), Na (4), Matsuyama (3)

Amen Corner (and its immediate environs) did a number on Jason Kokrak yesterday. After bogey at 10, he bogeyed 11 and doubled 12. But he’s had payback today: birdie at 10, then another at 12, and finally a third at 13. After opening rounds of 70 and 76, it’s been an up and down week for the 36-year-old from Ohio, but he’s three under for his round today and back in credit at -1. His best finish here was 49th last year; he’s well on course to best that now.

A sensational birdie for Will Zalatoris at 5. He’s short of the green in two. Out comes the wedge, to take out the ridge running across the middle of the putting surface. He lands his ball on the top shelf, where it grips, then rolls serenely into the hole. He’s -2.

Matsuyama takes his medicine, chipping back out from the trees down the left of 2. He sends his third to ten feet, but fails to make the birdie putt. Good course management, shame about the flat stick. On that subject, it’s a three-putt bogey for Tiger at 9, and he turns in 39. It’s not been his morning at all, and he’s +4.

So is Scheffler on edge as he sets about defending his lead, or not? He pulls his…