Masters champion admits he was trying not to ’embarrass himself’ on day three at Augusta National

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Former Masters champion Charl Schwartzel does not appear to have enjoyed this week at Augusta National.

The 2011 Green Jacket winner entered the tournament with low expectations after struggling on LIV Golf this season.

He made the cut on the number (+4), but a difficult third round has changed the outlook on his performance.

Schwartzel’s mentality changed from looking up at the names above him on the leaderboard to avoiding embarrassment at Augusta.

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Charl Schwartzel reacts after nightmare round three at The Masters

Schwartzel carded scores of 75 (+3) and 73 (+1) in the first two rounds before a five-over-par 77 on Saturday ruined his week.

The South African golfer admitted that “it’s not a nice feeling” to be playing so early in the day when you’re not in contention.

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Evidently struggling with a lack of motivation, Schwartzel made several big mistakes throughout the third round.

He made five bogeys and a double bogey, falling to 54th and last place among every player who made the cut.

“You always try. You don’t want to also embarrass yourself,” Schwartzel explained to the media on Saturday evening.

“You want to still and try to play off decent, but it’s hard to play when you’re not in contention, and you are just playing at the back of the field. It’s not the best feeling.”

Schwartzel also made an interesting claim about the difficulty of Augusta National, suggesting it had been unfair to him.

Even though he has won a Green Jacket, the 41-year-old insists the golf course deals players more bad luck than good.

“I’ve had the privilege to have the ultimate happiness,” Schwartzel shared his insight on Augusta after three rounds.

Photo by David Paul Morris/Augusta National/Getty Images

“Not a lot of people will know what that feels like, but this golf course also burns harder than most. I think there’s a big discrepancy between what it gives and what it takes, yeah.

“As I said, I’ve been fortunate enough to feel what that feels like, but the last couple of years, I feel like I played okay, but it’s been taking a lot.

“There are small margins. So many one meter this way or that way, or a couple, and it ends up being a good tournament versus a very average one.”

Schwartzel has one more round to salvage something positive from his week at Augusta, 15 years after his victory.