Scheffler leads by 1 shot on a wild day at Augusta National
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Scottie Scheffler made one last birdie and let out one big exhale Saturday on a wild day of charges and collapses at the Masters, giving him a 1-under 71 and a one-shot lead over two-time major champion Collin Morikawa.
Scheffler began by chipping in for birdie from across the first green. He finished with an 8-foot birdie putt that caught just enough of the right side of the cup.
Everything in between was bonkers, right to the very end. Bryson DeChambeau drove into the right trees on the 18th, pitched out to the fairway and then holed out from 77 yards for a most unlikely birdie that might have salvaged his chances.
Six players had at least a tie for the lead at one point.
There was a five-way tie for the lead on back nine. Morikawa looked to break out of the tie when he had a long eagle putt on the par-5 13th. He three-putted for par, and then the other four players all made bogey.
Max Homa has gone 32 holes without a birdie and he was only two behind. Xander Schauffele has gone 25 holes without a bogey, and that goes a long way. He was five back.
Augusta National didn’t need a ferocious wind to be wildly entertaining. The course was tough as ever, with a wind that wouldhavefeltscaryifnotfortheday before.
Scheffler was at 7-under 209 as he goes for a second Masters green jacket and tries to extend a dominant stretch that includes two wins on tough courses and a runner-up finish in his last three tournaments.
“It’s nice to have that experience, but going into tomorrow, that’s really all that it is,” he said. “And I can reflect on some of that stuff from that round, and this is a position I’m very familiar with. I’m excited for the challenge of going and trying to win the golf tournament tomorrow.”
Morikawa made two tough pars to finish off a 69, making him the
made a point of saying the Ravens have no plan to take even a half-step back this season. Come September, they aim to field a team at least as good as the one that won 13 games and clinched the AFC’s No. 1 seed with a week to spare. To do so, they’ll return to a bedrock principle established by DeCosta’s predecessor and mentor, Ozzie Newsome: build through the draft first.
“There’s a real opportunity for us to build that depth up again,” DeCosta said, referring to the flood of picks the team is expected to make over the next two drafts.
This isn’t just about back filling behind the team’s highly compensated stars and young Pro Bowl starters, however. The Ravens need multiple players from this class to compete for snaps right away, especially on the offensive line but also potentially at wide receiver, edge rusher and cornerback. Even if they don’t need immediate starters at all those spots, they need players who might shove their way to the front of the line heading into 2025, when players such as left tackle Ronnie Stanley, cornerback Brandon Stephens, wide receiver Rashod Bateman and outside linebacker Odafe Oweh aren’t guaranteed to be around.
“We’ll have some opportunities for sure. There’s going to be some spots that need to be filled,” DeCosta said. “The burden is on me to find those players.”
Is this a make-or-break draft? Not quite, but the Ravens’ talent pipeline needs feeding.
This is a great year to need offensive linemen.
Harbaugh reiterated that the draft isn’t the only means by which the Ravens plan to fill the gaps left by departed starters Morgan Moses, Kevin Zeitler and John Simpson. They expect tackle Daniel Faalele, guard Ben Cleveland and the powerful Vorhees (coming off a de facto medical redshirt year) to compete for snaps this summer.
But it’s hard to imagine DeCosta would have been comfortable waving goodbye to stalwart veterans Moses and Zeitler if he was not confident he could snag at least one immediate starter from this draft. We’ve heard it from evaluator after evaluator: there could be 10 starting tackles drafted from the top of the first round to the middle of the second, with potential standouts at guard and center also available on all three days of the draft.
DeCosta noted that the Ravens spent all of Monday on offensive line prospects, because there were just so many draftable players to review. Do you fancy an athletically gifted talent who didn’t play much such as Georgia’s Amarius Mims? Or a more refined plug-in at right tackle such as BYU’s Kingsley Suamataia?
There’s an answer to fit every strategy, including a possible trade out of the first round.
And the key point to keep in mind is the Ravens’ work won’t stop with the first offensive lineman they draft. DeCosta will almost certainly draft at least two and perhaps three, recognizing that center Tyler Linderbaum is his only current starter certain to be on the team in 2025. This is the year for the Ravens to set up their offensive line for the next half-decade.
“Offensive line is just stacked across the board, in most rounds,” DeCosta said.
It’s a perfect meeting of need and opportunity.
The calls for a playmaker aren’t quite as urgent, but expect another wide receiver and another running back.
It was unusual to go through a predraft news conference without DeCosta having to answer for the team’s spotty track record evaluating wide receivers. That’s partly because Flowers, the team’s third firstround receiver in five years, performed well as a rookie, and partly because of the more obvious holes along the offensive line.
But with Bateman, the team’s 2021 first-round pick, still looking for a breakout season and potentially headed to free agency after this year, the Ravens do need another young pass catcher. Harbaugh and quarterback Lamar Jackson have discussed which type of receiver — fans still lust after a big, fast X receiver on the outside — might be the the best fit.
Again, the good news for the Ravens is that this draft class comes packed with options of all sizes, speeds and styles. DeCosta put the wide receiver group right next to the offensive linemen when asked which positions will yield the most fruit on the draft’s second and third days.
The running backs are far less hyped, and the Ravens already made their big move there when they signed Henry. In fact, DeCosta suggested that teams rushed to scoop up starters in free agency in part because there’s not a premium ball carrier projected to go in the first round of the draft.
That said, he expects interest in running backs to intensify in the middle three rounds and all but guaranteed the Ravens will draft a player to supplement Henry, Justice Hill and rehabilitating Keaton Mitchell. No, they won’t be looking for a runner to take carries away from Henry, but they could use another versatile threat to rotate in on third down and to take advantage of the NFL’s new kickoff rules, designed to increase returns.