Scottie Scheffler leads Masters by 1 shot on a wild day of movement

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Scottie Scheffler was in the lead and seemingly in control of his game Saturday in the Masters until realizing there was no such thing at Augusta National.

He posed over another beautiful shot at the flag on the 10th hole and was stunned to see it take a hard hop over the green and roll down into the bushes. He made double bogey and suddenly was one shot behind.

“Make another bogey at 11 and all of a sudden I’m probably going from in the lead to a few out of the lead and then," Scheffler said, "you know, things happen pretty fast out there.”

It was so fast and furious that it was hard to keep up.

Six players had at least a share of the lead at one point. There was a five-way tie for the lead early on the back nine. No one was safe. It was like that to the very end.

Scheffler made an 8-foot birdie putt on the final hole for a 1-under 71 that gave him a one-shot lead over Collin Morikawa, the two-time major champion who has largely disappeared from the elite in golf and now is one round away from the third leg of the Grand Slam.

Bryson DeChambeau looked to be on the verge of a meltdown when he drove into the trees right of the 18th fairway, punched out to the short grass and then hit wedge from 77 yards that spun back into the cup for a birdie to sum up a wild Saturday.

“Easier than putting,” DeChambeau, adding that he was joking although there was some truth to that. He three-putted three times on the back nine.

Max Homa has gone 32 holes without a birdie and he was only two behind after a round of 17 pars and one bogey for a 73. Xander Schauffele has gone 25 holes without a bogey, and that goes a long way. He was five back after a 70.

Augusta National didn't need a ferocious wind to be wildly entertaining. The course was tough as ever, with a wind that would have felt scary if not for the day before. The greens made players feel as though they were putting on linoleum floors.

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 (Bay Hill and TPC Sawgrass) 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.

Morikawa made two tough pars to finish off a 69 — of those was a long birdie putt that hit the lip and spun 12 feet away. He is the only player to break par all three days at this Masters. Not bad for a someone who only found a swing key on Monday, switched putters after the first round and hasn't had a top 10 since the first week of the year.

“If you asked me at the beginning of the week I’d be one back heading into Sunday, I would have taken that any time,” Morikawa said. “You give yourself a chance with 18 holes left, that’s all you can really do.”

Another shot back was Homa, whose last birdie was on the fourth hole of the second round. He has made 32 pars in his last 36 holes.

Eight players were separated by five shots going into the final round, where the greens are likely to be even faster, crispier and more frightening.

Tiger Woods was not among them. Neither was Rory McIlroy.

Woods, having made his Masters-record 24th consecutive cut Friday, started the third round seven shots out of the lead and hopeful of at least making his massive following think there might be more magic left in that battered 48-year-old body.

Instead, Woods posted his highest round in three decades playing the majors. He shot an 82, the third time he has failed to break 80 in a major, and the first since the 2015 U.S. Open.

"Just hit the ball in all the places that I know I shouldn’t hit it,” Woods said.

McIlroy came to the Masters thinking this might be the year he finally got the last leg of the career Grand Slam. All he could muster was a 71 that left him 10 shots behind with 20 players in front of him.

There were no shortage of challengers.

Ludvig Aberg, the rising Swedish star playing in his first major, was among those who had a brief share of the lead until missing a pair of short par putts on the back nine. He still managed a 70 and was only three shots behind.

Another newcomer to the Masters, Nicolai Hojgaard of Denmark, had the lead to himself with three straight birdies around the turn. He celebrated that good fortunate by running off five straight bogeys, putting the ball in the water on both par 5s.

And then there was DeChambeau, who started the third round tied with Scheffler and Homa.

DeChambeau kept making enough birdies to hang around and was only one shot behind until he decided to go for the green from the trees on the par-5 15th. He went well right toward the 17th fairway — the second time in as many days he played a par 5 from two holes — only this one didn't work out so well.

He chunked his wedge and watched it tumble into the pond. He took a penalty drop, pitched on and two-putted for double bogey. And then he three-putted for bogey on the 16th. And right when it appeared to be falling apart, he made his surprise birdie to limit the damage to 75. He was four shots behind.

Scheffler didn't escape the craziness. He reached 8 under quickly by chipping in across the green on No. 1 and making a 30-foot birdie putt on No. 3. But all it took was two holes to make it feel like his head was spinning.

What saved his day was a 7-foot par putt on No. 12 and then a 30-foot eagle putt on the par-5 13th that dropped on its final turn and elicited rare emotion from Scheffler.

“C'mon, baby!” he yelled when the putt dropped.

“Things got a little dicey in the middle,” Scheffler said. “On No. 10, I hit what I thought was a decent shot 8 feet from the hole and it wound up in the bushes. I did a good job of staying patient.”

He'll need another dose for Sunday, even with the experience of winning a Masters. Two years ago, he had a three-shot lead going into the final round and spent the morning in tears as his wife gave him soothing words of confidence.

Now his wife is home in Dallas expecting their first child at the end of the month. Scheffler brought in his best friends from home to stay with him.

“I didn’t want to be in the house all by myself this weekend. Didn’t really seem that exciting to me,” Scheffler said.

There's plenty of that inside the ropes.

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Xander Schauffele hits his tee shot on the fourth hole during third round at the Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club Saturday, April 13, 2024, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Ludvig Aberg, of Sweden, hits from the fairway on the 17th hole during third round at the Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club Saturday, April 13, 2024, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, waits to play on the seventh hole during third round at the Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club Saturday, April 13, 2024, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Max Homa walks over the Byron Nelson Bridge on the 13th hole during third round at the Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club Saturday, April 13, 2024, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Max Homa hits from the bunker on the 18th hole during third round at the Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club Saturday, April 13, 2024, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Bryson DeChambeau celebrates after chipping in for a birdie on the 18th hole during third round at the Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club Saturday, April 13, 2024, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Bryson DeChambeau celebrates after chipping in for a birdie on the 18th hole during third round at the Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club Saturday, April 13, 2024, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Tiger Woods hits his tee shot on the fourth hole during third round at the Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club Saturday, April 13, 2024, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Tiger Woods walks on the second hole during third round at the Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club Saturday, April 13, 2024, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Collin Morikawa waves after making a putt on the eighth hole during third round at the Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club Saturday, April 13, 2024, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Collin Morikawa waits to play on the 18th hole during third round at the Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club Saturday, April 13, 2024, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Collin Morikawa celebrates after a putt on the 17th hole during third round at the Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club Saturday, April 13, 2024, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Scottie Scheffler celebrates after an eagle on the 13th hole during third round at the Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club Saturday, April 13, 2024, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Scottie Scheffler hits from the pine straw on the 10th hole during third round at the Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club Saturday, April 13, 2024, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Scottie Scheffler celebrates after a birdie on the 18th hole during third round at the Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club Saturday, April 13, 2024, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Tiger Woods hits his tee shot on the fourth hole during third round at the Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club Saturday, April 13, 2024, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Scottie Scheffler hits from the fairway on the first hole during third round at the Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club Saturday, April 13, 2024, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Tiger Woods hits from the fairway on the first hole during the first round of the Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club, Thursday, April 11, 2024, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Sepp Straka, of Austria, Phil Mickelson and Tony Finau walk on the first hole during the first round at the Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club Thursday, April 11, 2024, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Jason Day, of Australia, shields himself from blowing sand on the 18th hole during second round at the Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club Friday, April 12, 2024, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Scottie Scheffler keeps over Rae's Creek on the 13th hole during second round at the Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club Friday, April 12, 2024, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

The Change Healthcare cyberattack that disrupted health care systems nationwide earlier this year started when hackers entered a server that lacked a basic form of security: multifactor authentication.

UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty said Wednesday in a U.S. Senate hearing that his company, which owns Change Healthcare, is still trying to understand why the server did not have the additional protection.

His admission did not sit well with Senate Finance Committee members who spent more than two hours questioning the CEO about the attack and broader health care issues.

“This hack could have been stopped with cybersecurity 101,” Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden told Witty.

Multifactor authentication adds a second layer of security to password-protected accounts by having users enter an auto-generated code. It’s common on apps protecting sensitive data like bank accounts and meant to guard against hackers guessing passwords.

Change Healthcare provides technology used to submit and process billions of insurance claims a year. Hackers gained access in February and unleashed a ransomware attack that encrypted and froze large parts of the company’s system, Witty said.

The attack triggered a disruption of payment and claims processing around the country, stressing doctor’s offices and health care systems by interfering with their ability to file claims and get paid.

UnitedHealth quickly disconnected the affected systems to limit damage and paid a $22 million ransom, Witty said. The company is still recovering.

“We’ve literally built this platform back from scratch so that we can reassure people that there are not elements of the old attacked environment within the new technology," Witty said, also noting that he was “deeply, deeply sorry” for the attack.

The CEO also told senators that all of the company's core systems were now fully functional. That included claims payment and pharmacy processing.

Witty said his company had been in the process of upgrading technology for Change, which it acquired in 2022, and he was “incredibly frustrated” to learn about the lack of multifactor authentication, which is a standard across UnitedHealth.

In March, the Office for Civil Rights said it would investigate whether protected health information was exposed and whether Change Healthcare followed laws protecting patient privacy.

The company said earlier this month that personal information that could cover a “substantial portion of people in America” may have been taken in the attack.

Company officials have said they see no signs that doctor charts or full medical histories were released after the attack. But they also have noted that it may take several months of analysis to identify and notify those who were affected. UnitedHealth is offering free credit monitoring and identity theft protection for two years.

UnitedHealth Group runs one of the nation’s largest insurers and pharmacy benefits managers. It also provides care and technology services, which include the Change business.

Cybersecurity experts say ransomware attacks have increased substantially in recent years, especially in the health care sector.

Witty told senators on Wednesday that his company is “consistently” under attack.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Protesters hold up signs saying "Stop Denying Us Care" as Andrew Witty, Chief Executive Officer of UnitedHealth Group, front, gathers his papers after testifying at a Senate Finance Committee hearing examining cyber attacks on health care, and the Change Healthcare cyber attack, Wednesday, May 1, 2024, on Capitol Hill in Washington. The people were protesting claim denials and prior authorization requests that they say delays care. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Andrew Witty, Chief Executive Officer of UnitedHealth Group, testifies at a Senate Finance Committee hearing examining cyber attacks on health care, and the Change Healthcare cyber attack, Wednesday, May 1, 2024, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Protesters hold up signs saying "Stop Denying Us Care" as Andrew Witty, Chief Executive Officer of UnitedHealth Group, front, gathers his papers after testifying at a Senate Finance Committee hearing examining cyber attacks on health care, and the Change Healthcare cyber attack, Wednesday, May 1, 2024, on Capitol Hill in Washington. The people were protesting claim denials and prior authorization requests that they say delays care. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Andrew Witty, Chief Executive Officer of UnitedHealth Group, testifies at a Senate Finance Committee hearing examining cyber attacks on health care, and the Change Healthcare cyber attack, Wednesday, May 1, 2024, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Andrew Witty, Chief Executive Officer of UnitedHealth Group, testifies at a Senate Finance Committee hearing examining cyber attacks on health care, and the Change Healthcare cyber attack, Wednesday, May 1, 2024, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)