Centurion - Charl Schwartzel reeled off an incredible eagle two at the 10th in the third round at Augusta on Saturday to give himself an outside chance of winning The Masters again.
Schwartzel holed his wedge approach from 124 metres to start the second nine, which ultimately helped the 2011 Masters champion to a round of one-over 73 as he dropped to two-under.
Schwartzel is tied fourth, seven behind American leader Scottie Scheffer on nine-under.
When Schwartzel claimed his breakthrough win 11 years ago at the hallowed grounds of Augusta, he began the final day four behind and shot a six-under 66 to don the Green Jacket.
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There will certainly be an air of deja vu for Schwartzel on Sunday.
“Scottie's playing good golf, but there's 18 holes to go. You never know. [I’m] Going to have to shoot something around the 66 mark, I would think, to maybe have a chance. Then it's up to him what he does,” said Schwartzel.
"If he plays well tomorrow, then he determines his own destiny.”
The 37-year-old Schwartzel had little form coming into The Masters, but those positive memories of his, around Augusta, have ignited his game.
“It's a tough course and a lot of things can happen, as we've seen guys shoot 50 on the back nine. This course gives you some opportunities if you can get in the right spots.
“So [I will] keep swinging, create some opportunities just to see if I can make some putts.”
A beauty from @CA_Schwartzel 🦅
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 9, 2022
He moves to solo second at -6. pic.twitter.com/kBiksfECuO
Ideally, Schwartzel would have liked to be a lot closer to Scheffler, like Australian Cameron Smith in second on six-under or South Korea’s Sungjae Im on four-under in third.
It was mostly down to poor putting for Schwartzel on day three as he carded five bogeys, against his two birdies and the eagle. If he can work something out on the greens, Schwartzel may just be able to pull off something spectacular like he did in 2011 when he birdied the last four holes in a row on his way to victory.
"I thought I played exceptionally well. If you count the fringe on 18 as a green hit, that would have been 15 greens in regulation for me. Just had a real poor day with the putter.
“Normally in the cold I struggle, and today I played beautifully. So just a bad day with the putter.”
The only other SA player to make the cut was Christiaan Bezuidenhout, as he shot a five-over 77 to drop down to a share of 34th. On five-over heading into the final round, Bezuidenhout could still card a low one to finish inside the top-15.