The Masters hangs in the balance as a day of chaos leaves Scottie Scheffler with a slim lead at a packed summit… while Tiger Woods posts his WORST-EVER score around Augusta National

Moving Day took a while to get off the back and then it closed with a dance of utterly glorious carnage. Had the orchestrators of this grand madness been patrons, the green jackets would have sent them off the premises.

But where to start? How does one begin to explain the sheer ferocity of a two-hour stretch at the end of the third round?

Before we get to a leaderboard that has Scottie Scheffler at the top and four men within four shots of him, we should travel a long way south to Tiger Woods.

Remember Friday when he broke the record for making the cut for the 24th time in a row and did it on one leg in the most brutal wind? He had been a titan for 36 holes.

A vision of gritty spirit and proof that the brain is worth more than any club in the bag. Across the next 18, he carded his worst ever score on this storied stretch – it took him 82 strokes.

After making the cut on Friday, Tiger Woods had his worst score ever at Augusta National

It could have been the old, sore body catching up to him, but what an extraordinary way to marry triumph and disaster in the space of 48 hours. Always a drama with that cat.

But it had nothing on the bias of the business end. It was far more remarkable.

A day that started with Scheffler, Bryson DeChambeau and Max Homa in the lead at six under par would eventually turn into a demolition derby, with Collin Morikawa, Ludvig Aberg and Nicolai Hojgaard also holding the top spot at one point or another.

When the music stopped, Scheffler led at seven under, one better than he started and one clear of Morikawa, but that was achieved via more waves than you’d ever expect from him in his 71.

It’s worth knowing a few details here: he went as low as eight under for three, gave one back on four, then went into a tailspin on the 10th.

As always, he had smoked a drive off the tee, but started the frenzy with an approach that sailed through the green and into the crowd. A missed putt from four feet signaled a double bogey, which coincided with Højgaard collecting his third consecutive birdie in the back group to move ahead.

We had a new leader, and then we didn’t – Højgaard bogeyed every one of his next five holes. He has had a wonderful Masters debut, will resume at two under, and yet, signing off on a 74, he might be forgiven for flying back to Denmark overnight to sleep it off.

Collin Morikawa is hoping to win a third major title and delivered a solid round on Saturday

Max Homa’s record at the majors is abysmal, but he’s just two shots behind Scheffler

In his place stepped Morikawa, a two-time major winner, who had opened at three under but then birdied each of the first three holes with a combination of hot putting and a superb save from the sand at the second.

Amidst the bedlam, he was steady—even in the growing evening breeze, he was able to close with 11 even pars for a 69. Having not won a major in three years, Morikawa began to slip from conversations surrounding golf’s greatest, but at At 27 years old, the American is flying to this tournament.

In fact, his 69 might have been enough for the top if Scheffler hadn’t reawakened. After his misfortune on 10, the world No. 1 would drop another one to fall to four under – his rock bottom, as it happens.

The highlight of his revival was an eagle putt on 13 from a distance that could have been from any other zip code. That got him back to six under before two birdies in his final four holes left him one clear.

Perilously placed at five under is Homa, who is a bit of a mystery on this stage.

His talent is abundant, but his best major finish of 10th is an isolated achievement – his other results in the four majors have been terrible given his potential. Here he was as steady as Morikawa, and his 73, while he had no birdies, had only one bogey. On such baked, quick vegetables that was impressive.

Ludvig Aberg is a remarkable talent and dark horse is still very much at stake here

Like Aberg. Greatly. It’s remarkable to think this is his first major and comes just 10 months after leaving college, but such has been his breakthrough that he already has two professional titles to his name and arrived here as a dark horse for the title. Not so unlikely now, is it?

His round of 70 was a master class in driving and some impressive early putts before several bogeys on 14 and 15 pulled him back. In him and Højgaard, European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald knows he has a pair of gems who are still on steep upward curves.

The biggest hit of the day was tagged by DeChambeau. People used to make a ‘DeShambles’ gag about golf’s mad scientist, and unfortunately his back nine broke with that narrative. His troubles started with bogeys on 11 and 12, which took him to four under, but after a birdie on 14, he lost the plot at the par-five 15th.

The problems began when he tried to hook around the turn with his second shot, but instead the flight stayed straight and cannonballed into the trees. In an attempt to break free, he played into the river and eventually carded a seven. An implosion was on the way with a three-putt bogey on 16, but just when his day seemed to have collapsed, he holed from the fairway for a birdie on the final 18.

It was really great theater.

Bryson DeChambeau had a back nine to forget until he holed out from the fairway on the 18th.

Time will tell what Sunday brings. Naturally, Scheffler will be the favorite for the final loop because of who he is. Because of his experience as a former champion and his possession of such a reliably excellent game. However, he is starting to miss a few of the shorter putts again.

Aside from his 10th hole horror show, there were four leaky putts that got off the inside of 10 feet on the front nine alone. That will be a consideration to keep in mind, as will Xander Schauffele, whose 70 has snuck him into a two-under group.

As for Rory McIlroy, the best he can hope for is another backdoor finish to a decent result. His 71 left him 10 off the lead, two clear of defending champion Jon Rahm, who like most of the early starters found little movement on move day. It was an indictment of his week that his 72 was his best of the three rounds so far.

He walked away with a face like thunder, having nothing on the Tiger Woods school after his 82. It consisted of a three-putt bogey on six, a duffed pitch into a bunker for a double-bogey six on seven and a missed four-footer en route to a seven on the par-five eighth – five strokes gone in three holes.

His whole game was rotten. Asked if there was a moment when he felt it dawned on him, he said curtly: ‘All day.’