Tiger Woods reacts to holing a putt for an eagle on the eighth green during the final round of the 2011 Masters Tournament. (Andrew Redington / Getty Images)
AUGUSTA, Ga.—
Adam Scott has taken the outright lead on a wild final day at the Masters.
The 54-hole-leader, Rory McIlroy, fell apart and opened up the chase for the green jacket to everyone from Tiger Woods to Geoff Ogilvy.
Scott seized the outright lead for the first time with an 8-foot birdie putt at the 14th. But it was still far too early to claim the title, not on a day when seven players had held at least a share of the lead.
Woods had the crowd in an uproar when he shot a 5-under 31 on the front side, but he couldn't keep up the momentum. He missed a short putt at the 12th, and another for an eagle at the 15th that would've given him the outright lead.
Scott was at 11 under, with eight players within two strokes of the lead. Woods is the clubhouse leader at 10 under.
McIlroy, the 21-year-old from Norther Ireland who had a four-stroke lead after the third round, recovered from a faltering start to reach the turn in one-over-par 37 in the season's opening major.
That left him at 11 under overall, one clear of South African Charl Schwartzel, South Korean K.J. Choi and 2009 Masters champion Angel Cabrera of Argentina, who each had nine holes to play.
Four-times winner Tiger Woods was also in the title hunt, covering the front nine in a scintillating five-under 31 to briefly share the lead before three-putting at the par-three 12th to slip back to nine under.
Schwartzel made the first significant move on an electrifying afternoon of shot-making at Augusta National, a sizzling birdie-par-eagle run putting him into a tie for the lead with McIlroy.
Four behind McIlroy at the start of the day, Schwartzel holed out with a chip and run from well right of the green at the par-four first to get to nine under.
McIlroy, playing one group behind on a sweltering afternoon, bogeyed that hole after hitting his approach through the back of the green and failing to get up and down.
Although McIlroy did well to save par at the 575-yard second after twice finding bunkers to stay at 11 under, Schwartzel joined him at the top of the leaderboard when he holed out with a wedge at the par-four third.
The 26-year-old South African threw both arms skywards after watching his ball land on the green and then curl across the slope before dropping into the cup.
EARLY NOISE
Woods, meanwhile, was making early noise of his own in pursuit of his first tournament victory in nearly 17 months.
He sank a downhill six-footer to birdie the par-five second and then struck a superb approach to three feet at the third to close within five of the lead.
Although he stumbled with a three-putt bogey at the fourth, Woods cleverly used the contours of the greens to set up another birdie at the par-three sixth before knocking in a five-footer at the seventh.
The 14-times major champion produced a masterful second shot at the par-five eighth, his ball again tracking down the slope before ending up 12 feet from the hole.
Woods rammed in the putt to close to within one of the lead before pumping his right fist in celebration.
Despite finding pine trees to the right off the tee at the ninth and a greenside bunker with his approach, he splashed out to 15 feet and nervelessly sank the putt to save par.
McIlroy, who dropped his second shot of the day at the fifth where he missed a four-foot par putt, recovered the outright lead when he coolly sank a 15-footer from just off the green at the seventh.
He parred the next two holes to stay in front while Woods slipped back to nine under when he missed a four-footer to bogey the short 12th.
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