PGA

An iron set that Tiger Woods used to win four major tournaments in a row from 2000 to 2001 sold at auction for a record $5.1 million through Golden Age Auctions, according to ESPN's Tom VanHaaren. 

The Titleist 681-T iron set is now the highest selling piece of golf memorabilia, according to VanHaaren, passing Horton Smith's green jacket that previously sold for $682,000 in 2013. 

The seller of the Woods' iron set, Todd Brock, bought them from former Titleist vice president of player promotions Steve Mata in 2010 for just $57,242. Brock said, according to VanHaaren:

I've had them for 12 years now, and I haven't told anybody that I owned them. They were in a really nice frame in my office and I'm not an investor in memorabilia, so nobody was seeing the irons. I've had the opportunity to see these for 12 years and it's like a Rembrandt, where somebody takes it to their castle and it's never seen again. I felt blessed that I got to hang out with them and look at them, but it's time for somebody else to do something bigger and better with them.

Woods is competing in his first major tournament since suffering significant injuries to his right leg in a February 2021 car crash. The 46-year-old is currently tied for 41st in the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club. 

Scottie Scheffler is 18 holes away from winning his first career major tournament.

The 25-year-old ended the third round at the Masters with a 71, bringing his 54-hole score to nine under par.

After being tied for third place at the end of Thursday, Scheffler has finished atop the standings in each of the past two days. His first birdie Saturday came on the par-five second hole.

Scheffler extended his lead to six shots with another birdie on No. 3. He did give a shot back with a bogey on the fourth hole, ending his streak of bogey-free holes at 19 dating back to No. 3 on Friday.

The bogey certainly did nothing to change Scheffler's approach the rest of the day. He added two more birdies on the front nine to make the turn at 11 under.

Scheffler did try to make things interesting with back-to-back bogeys on 14 and 15 to fall back to single digits under par. He would go birdie-bogey over the final two holes to stay at nine under par overall.

Much has already been made of Scheffler's rapid ascent to the top of the Official World Golf Ranking. He didn't win his first PGA Tour event until February at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, but he's added two more titles since then.

"I’ve prepared for a long time to be in moments like this and to win golf tournaments," Scheffler told reporters after the second round. "And like I said at the beginning of the week, I've done all the preparation I can do. And if I win this golf tournament, then great; and if I don't, that's OK, too, because I did everything I could and I'm prepared and the rest isn't up to me."

After finishing tied for 18th at the 2021 Masters, Scheffler posted top-10 finishes in each of the final three major tournaments last year.

Tiger Woods had his second consecutive rough outing after a promising start in the first round. The five-time Masters champion is seven over par after a 78 on Saturday. He did have one of the best shots on the day with a near-eagle out of the bunker on the par-five second hole.

The fifth hole is when things really started to get out of hand for Woods. He four-putted after getting on the green in two shots. Two of his missed two putts were from inside of six feet, resulting in a double bogey.

Another bogey on nine left Woods at three over par when he made the turn. The 46-year-old got back on track briefly with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 12 and 13.

The wheels fell off for Woods down the home stretch. He closed the round with consecutive bogeys on Nos. 16 and 17 and a double bogey on No. 18.

Putting has been the biggest issue for Woods in the past two rounds, but it was especially problematic Saturday. He averaged two putts per hole, including the four-putt on five and four three-putts.

"I was hitting too many putts," Woods told CBS Sports' Amanda Balionis Renner after his round. "... I think I had four three-putts and a four-putt. Honestly, I didn't really feel like I hit it all that bad. I just had absolutely zero feel for the greens, and it showed."

The rest of Woods' game looks to be fine. He had his highest percentage of fairways hit (79) and greens in regulation (61) of the tournament on Saturday.

If Woods can get his short game on track in the final round, he can finish strong and build some positive momentum as he looks ahead to whatever his next event will be.

Cameron Smith finds himself in second place after posting the lowest score of the third round. The Australian shot a 68 on Saturday, dropping his 54-hole total to six under par.

Smith briefly got within three strokes of Scheffler during his run of three birdies in four holes from Nos. 12 to 15.

Smith gave another shot back with his first bogey of the day on No. 16. He would make par on his final two holes to stay at six under heading into the final round.

Sungjae Im (-4), Charl Schwartzel (-2) and Shane Lowry (-2) are on Smith's heels for the second spot on the leaderboard. Schwartzel at one point got to six under par, but he couldn't stay at that level because of four bogeys over his final eight holes.

Nobody played a perfect round Saturday, keeping the door ajar for some potential fireworks in the final round. Scheffler is still comfortably in the driver's seat to win, but his margin of error got smaller with his struggles on the back nine.

Putting woes resulted in Tiger Woods posting the worst single-round score of his career at the Masters on Saturday. 

After finishing with a six-over par 78 in the third round, Woods told CBS Sports' Amanda Balionis Renner he had "zero feel" for the greens. 

"I was hitting too many putts,” Woods explained. "I think I had four three-putts and a four-putt. Honestly, I didn’t really feel like I hit it all that bad. I just had absolutely zero feel for the greens, and it showed."

Woods had issues with his putter right out of the gate. He needed three putts on the first hole to start his day with a bogey. 

The second hole was a nice rebound for Woods. The five-time Masters champion nearly hit an eagle of the bunker in front of the green, but he had to settle for a three-foot birdie putt. 

It was on No. 5 when things completely fell apart for Woods on the green. He missed two putts from within six feet and hit a total of four putts to card a double-bogey on the par four. 

By the time the round was over, Woods had a four-putt and four three-putts on his scorecard. 

Per the Masters' website, Woods averaged two putts per hole on Saturday. He didn't have a three-put in each of the first two rounds. 

Putting was the only significant problem for Woods in the third round. The 46-year-old hit 11 of 14 fairways and was 11-of-18 in greens in regulation. Both were his highest single-round totals through three rounds at Augusta National. 

Prior to Saturday, Woods' worst single-round score at the Masters was in 2012 (75 in the second round). He will enter the final round on Sunday at seven-over par. 

Even though Woods felt he had a chance to win this tournament earlier in the week, the fact he was able to post one round under par (71 on Thursday) and make the cut is a huge victory considering he hadn't played an official event since November 2020. 

The comeback process was always likely to take some time. Woods will be able to assess where his game is at now and work on ways he can improve as he prepares for future events.    

Tiger Woods shot a six-over 78 in the third round of the Masters Tournament on Saturday from Augusta National Golf Club.

Woods made his return to professional golf this weekend after suffering serious right leg injuries in a one-car crash in February 2021. He hadn't made a professional start in 508 days before teeing off Thursday.

Saturday was a struggle at times, as Woods' walk on the golf course appeared to be more strenuous than Thursday and Friday.

CBS Sports' Dottie Pepper noted during the televised broadcast that Woods appeared to be "laboring a little more to walk," although she said the "golf part was coming back."

The cold, windy and dreary day in Augusta probably didn't help Woods. Plus, he is also just 15 months removed from his fifth back surgery, which occurred the month prior to the crash.

Per Dan Rapoport of Golf Digest, it was a "microdiscectomy procedure on his back to remove a pressurized disc fragment that was pinching a nerve."

His 2021 season was already on hold because of it, but then Woods didn't even know if he'd walk again after the crash. A leg amputation was also a possibility.

The fact that the 46-year-old Woods is even out there walking the course, making the cut and competing with the best in the world is remarkable enough. Other golf stars didn't make the weekend (e.g., Brooks Koepka, Jordan Spieth and Bryson DeChambeau), but Woods made it through and appears ready to finish all four rounds.

As for Woods' third-round performance, it started with a bogey on No. 1 before he orchestrated a birdie on the par-five second. He nearly made eagle out of the greenside bunker before settling for the birdie to move back to one over.

However, Woods then registered a double bogey on the par-four No. 5 after his second career four-putt in his Masters history:

Bogeys on the ninth and 11th holes dropped Woods to five over, but he bounced back with birdies on Nos. 12 and 13.

Woods struggled down the stretch, though, with a pair of bogeys on Nos. 16 and 17 before a double on the last. He finished the day at six over for the round and seven over for the tournament.

Woods may be out of contention, but the rest of the field minus Scottie Scheffler may also be because of the World No. 1 golfer's dominant performance this weekend.

However, Woods' ability to compete is impressive enough, and he'll look to finish his Masters performance strong on Sunday.

The field largely struggled during the second round of the Masters Tournament on Friday, but that trend didn't apply to leader Scottie Scheffler, who shot a five-under 67 to vault into the lead at eight-under at Augusta National Golf Club.

Scheffler birdied all four of the par-five holes en route to taking a five-shot lead over the field. The 25-year-old sandwiched a pair of bogeys around a birdie on the par-five second, but he also made birdies on a pair of par-threes at Nos. 12 and 16.

Charl Schwartzel, Sungjae Im, Shane Lowry and Hideki Matsuyama all sit second at three-under.

Scheffler, who sits at No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking, is looking for his fourth tournament win in two months. He took home the WM Phoenix Open, the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play earlier this year.

Now he's the clear favorite to win a green jacket.

His performance is more remarkable when considering the fact that only 18 players shot even-par or better through two rounds.

Scheffler also tied the largest 36-hole lead in Masters history with his effort:

His effort is more notable when also considering that a host of talented players and major winners won't be making the weekend, including Brooks Koepka (+6), Jordan Spieth (+6), Xander Schauffele (+7), Justin Rose (+8), Gary Woodland (+8), Bryson DeChambeau (+12).

One player who will be moving on is Tiger Woods, who shot a one-over following 36 holes. Woods is making his return to professional golf after suffering serious leg injuries in a one-car accident in Feb. 2021.

Scheffler and Woods own the most impressive performances of the tournament thus far, but there's still two rounds of action left. The third round will begin Saturday at 10 a.m. ET.

Stewart Cink made a hole-in-one on the par-three 16th hole at the Masters Tournament on Friday.

The PGA Tour provided some facts following Cink's ace:

No. 16 played at 166 yards on Friday. No one had gotten an ace at all in this year's Masters until Cink did so in the second round.

It was a special moment for Cink, as his son, Reagan, is caddying for him.

The 48-year-old Cink is a 15-time winner as a pro golfer, with his most notable victory occurring at the 2009 Open Championship in a playoff with Tom Watson. The Alabama native has seven top-20 finishes at the Masters, including a tie for 12th in 2021.

Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm are among the golfers who will try to avoid the projected cut line at the Masters on Friday. 

The top 50 players and ties on the leaderboard will advance to the weekend at Augusta National Golf Club following the second round. 

If that was applied to Thursday's scores, the golfers at two-over or better would make it to the weekend. 

DeChambeau alternated between good and bad rounds in the last two Masters. He has four rounds of 73 or worse, while the other four scorecards were 72 or lower. 

The heavy-hitting American has to hope for his form to turn around on Friday in order to qualify for the final two rounds. 

Rahm entered Augusta as the tournament favorite but sits at two-over going into the second round. 

The 2021 U.S. Open champion has typically played well at Augusta, and he needs to benefit from his experience across the course to rebound and put himself in solid position heading into Saturday. 

Masters Leaderboard

Sungjae Im (-5) 

Cameron Smith (-4) 

Danny Willett (-3) 

Joaquin Niemann (-3) 

Scottie Scheffler (-3) 

Dustin Johnson (-3) 

Jason Kokrak (-2)

Corey Conners (-2) 

Patrick Cantlay (-2) 

Full leaderboard can be found on Masters.com.

Latest Projections

DeChambeau Struggles To Get To Cut Number

DeChambeau has a few things going against him on Friday. 

The 28-year-old starts his round with at least a two-stroke advantage compared to the cut line, and it could be higher than two-over depending on how the morning threesomes play the course. 

DeChambeau is in the process of rediscovering his on-course form after returning from an injury hiatus two weeks ago at the WGC Match Play.

The Modesto, California native did not make it out of the group stage at the Austin Country Club then, and he missed the cut at the Texas Open last week with scores of 73 and 76.

DeChambeau did not look great throughout his four-over 76 first round at the Masters on Thursday, when he finished the final five holes with two bogeys and a double bogey. He needs to improve on the closing holes in order to make a push over the cut line on Friday. 

The 2020 U.S. Open winner played relatively clean on the first 13 holes, recording two bogeys, one birdie and 10 pars in that stretch. A long run of pars with a few birdies mixed in could be enough for him to qualify for the weekend. 

The second round at Augusta has not treated DeChambeau well, though. He has hit a 74 and 75 on his last two Fridays on the course. 

If he avoids a few tumultuous holes, he should rise up the leaderboard, but that feels like a difficult task with his bombing drive style that can sometimes send balls all over the course. 

Rahm Rebounds From 1st-Round 74

Rahm should not be concerned about his title contention yet. 

The Spaniard shot a two-over 74 on Thursday, but he is only three birdies away from the top 10. He began with seven pars, one birdie and one bogey. He needs another solid start plus an extra birdie or two to gain some confidence heading into the back nine. 

He did get a little choppy on the back nine, though, where he carded bogeys on the 11th, 13th and 16th holes. 

Rahm could use his trip to Augusta in 2018 for motivation on Friday. He started that tournament with a 75 and then had three rounds in the 60s to land a fourth-place finish. 

The 27-year-old could also benefit from the time of day when he will be on course. He will be part of the morning wave on Friday, but the wind is expected to pick up and the sun will fade behind the clouds as the afternoon goes on, according to Weather.com.

Rahm, Brooks Koepka, Jordan Spieth and others may benefit from the favorable conditions to climb the leaderboard, while the golfers with afternoon tee times may be up against some stronger winds. 

After shooting one under in the first round of the Masters on Thursday, Tiger Woods praised the crowd at Augusta National for its energy and enthusiasm.

"That's something I'm very lucky to have this opportunity to be able to play, and not only that, to play in the Masters and to have this type of reception," Woods said after the round, per ESPN's Mark Schlabach. "I mean, the place was electric."

It was Woods' first time back on the green since his car accident two years ago that caused severe damage to his leg. The 46-year-old recorded three birdies and two bogeys on the day.

Woods attributed his solid play to the experience of being back in front of a full crowd for the first time in a while.

"I hadn't played like this since '19, when I won, because in '20 we had COVID and we had no one here, and I didn't play last year [when attendance was limited]," he said. "So to have the patrons fully out and to have that type of energy out there was awesome to feel."

Woods is among the nine players tied for 10th after the first round. He trails leader Sungjae Im (-5) by four strokes.