AUGUSTA, Ga. — It was just about 5 o’clock when the Masters began to lose its mind Saturday.

What had been for a couple days a nice little bro-to-bro match between Scottie Scheffler, Max Homa and Bryson DeChambeau was transformed into an international chariot race all over the back nine with six players taking and/or losing shares of the lead, while America Googled to ask what exactly is a Nicolai Hojgaard.

Once they cooled down the computer at scoring central, it was determined that Scheffler, who carded four bogeys and a double-bogey, somehow clawed his way back to one-under 71 for a one-shot lead at 7-under par entering Sunday’s final round. He will vie with Collin Morikawa, who closed out the tumultuous third day with 11 straight pars, to shoot 69 and hold down second.

Homa could not muster a single birdie all day but held on with a 73 at two shots back, one swing ahead of Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg, a Masters rookie playing in a championship with little familiarity with Scandinavia. And if that was not enough on a did-you-just-see-that? sort of day at Augusta National, consider DeChambeau, who was playing himself out of a contention before canning a 77-yard birdie from No. 18 fairway to stake down fifth place with a 75.

“It was very challenging out there,” Scheffler said. “But it’s a major championship. I don’t think Augusta wants their golf course to be very easy.”

Scheffler is seeking his second Masters title in three years but Saturday was unlike his dominant performance in 2022. This leaderboard includes four contenders from the World Golf Rankings top 20: Morikawa (No. 20), Homa (No. 11), Aberg (No. 9) and Xander Schauffele (No. 5 at five shots back). Fortune favors the bold.

“Look, Scottie is the No. 1 player in the world for a reason and what he’s done over the past few years is incredible,” Morikawa said. “But at the end of the day, it doesn’t scare me.”

If the field was waiting for an opening Saturday, Scheffler provided it after the turn. Protecting a one-shot lead, he double-bogeyed No. 10 after flying his approach into shrubbery behind the green and then watching his bogey try from three feet do a 180 around the cup. No. 11 was little improvement. He missed par from five feet.

At that point, the body English did not appear invincible, his head down, seeming to inspect his shoes.

“Maybe my Nikes just looked really white or something,” he said. “No, I do my best to try and stay in my little world out there. And sometimes when you get little surprises, like I did there on 10 and 11, yeah, just trying to do my best to stay in the moment.”

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