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

Moving day took a while to get off its backside and then it closed with a dance of utterly brilliant carnage. Had the orchestrators of this magnificent madness been patrons the green jackets would have launched them off the property.

But where to start? How to begin to explain the sheer wildness of a two-hour stretch at the close of the third round?

Before we get to a leaderboard that has Scottie Scheffler on 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 succession and did so on one leg in the most brutal of winds? He had been a titan for 36 holes. 

A vision of teeth-gritting 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 of land – it took him 82 blows.

Scottie Scheffler has a one-shot lead going into Sunday after a day of chaos at The Masters

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

That might have been the old, aching body catching up with 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 shenanigans at the business end. That was far more remarkable. 

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

When the music stopped, Scheffler led on seven under, one better than he began and one clear of Morikawa, but that was achieved via more undulations than you would ever expect of him in his 71.

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

As ever, he had smoked a drive off the tee, but commenced the frenzy with an approach that sailed through the green and into the crowd. A missed putt from four feet signalled a double bogey, which coincided with Hojgaard collecting his third straight birdie in the group behind to go in front.

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

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

Max Homa's record at the majors is abysmal but he is just two shots back from Scheffler 

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

Amid the bedlam he was steady – even in the growing evening breeze he was able to close with 11 straight pars for 69. Having not won a major for three years, Morikawa was starting to slip from conversations around the best in golf, but at just 27 years old the American is flying at this tournament.

Indeed, his 69 might have been enough for top had Scheffler not reawakened. After his calamity at 10, the world No 1 would drop another to fall to four under - his rock bottom, as it happens. 

The highlight of his revival was an eagle putt on 13 from such distance it might have been from another postcode. That got him back to six under before two birdies in his final four holes left him one clear.

Dangerously poised on 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 big four tournaments have been dire in consideration of his potential. Here he was as steady as Morikawa and his 73, while featuring no birdies, had only one bogey. On such baked, rapid greens that was impressive.

Ludvig Aberg is a remarkable talent and the dark horse is still very much in contention here

As was Aberg. Vastly so. It is remarkable to think this is his first major and comes just 10 months after he left college, but such has been his breakthrough 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 masterclass in driving and some impressive early putting before successive bogeys on 14 and 15 yanked him back. In him and Hojgaard, European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald knows he has a pair of gems who are still on steep upward curves.

The greatest sting of the day was felt by DeChambeau. Folk used to make a ‘DeShambles’ gag about the mad scientist of golf, and sadly his back nine fed that narrative. His difficulties started with bogeys on 11 and 12, taking him to four under, but after a birdie at 14 he lost the plot on the par-five 15th.

Trouble began when he tried to hook around the bend with his second shot, but instead the flight held straight and cannoned into the trees. In attempting to pitch himself free he played into the creek and ultimately carded a seven. An implosion was incoming with a three-putt bogey at 16, but just when his day seemed to have collapsed, he holed from the fairway for a birdie at the last on 18.

It was truly great theatre.

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 favourite for the final loop because of who he is. Because of his experience as a past champion and his possession of such a reliably excellent game. However, he has started to miss a few of those shorter putts again. 

Aside from his 10th hole horror show, there were four leaky putts that got away from inside 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 group at two under.

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 better off than the defending champion Jon Rahm, who like most of the early starters found little movement on moving day. It was an indictment of his week that his 72 was his best of the three rounds so far.

He left with a face like thunder, which had nothing on the Tiger Woods scowl after his 82. That comprised a three-putt bogey at six, a duffed pitch into a bunker for a double-bogey six at seven and a missed four-footer on his way to a seven at the par-five eighth – five strokes gone in three holes.

His entire game was rotten. Asked if there was a moment when he felt it unravelling, he was brief: ‘All day.’