A second from Scottie Scheffler’s post-round interview went viral this weekend at the Masters. A member of the media roughly requested the world No. 1 if he felt like his bogey-free 65 on Saturday was a good rating given how he performed. Scheffler scoffed at the inquisition — and that is placing it properly — and continued to discipline questions in the end answering the preliminary one in a wrap round method.
Scheffler’s edge has not deserted him throughout this “down” interval of the final month, however components of his recreation have. He skilled three straight sluggish begins throughout the WM Phoenix Open, AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and Genesis Invitational. His iron play lagged significantly in comparison with earlier seasons as he entered the Masters outdoors the highest 80 in strokes gained strategy on the PGA Tour.
He arrived at the Masters with three straight finishes outdoors the highest 10 — T12, T24, T22 — one thing he had not accomplished for the reason that late portion of the 2022 (!) season. The extremely excessive bar he had cleared these final 4 seasons was now posing an issue for the four-time main champion — it was all anybody may speak about.
Because of this, some — not all — questioned his possibilities to win his third profession inexperienced jacket in only a five-year span. The quantity was turned up on this when he began the weekend at even par and 12 strokes off the tempo set by Rory McIlroy. What was not talked about, nevertheless, was that he was solely six strokes behind these in second place. McIlroy’s efficiency by 36 holes was the outlier, but it surely was not handled as such when discussing Scheffler.
2026 Masters takeaways: Scottie Scheffler gets his groove back, Cameron Young proves he’s next in line
Robby Kalland
Again, these pesky requirements.
Even although, McIlroy was the one who slipped on the green jacket by week’s finish, Scheffler could have received one thing else — quiet from an in any other case noisy outdoors world. He turned the primary participant since 1942, and maybe the primary particular person within the historical past of the event as data don’t lengthen that far again, to play the weekend at Augusta National in bogey-free vogue.
He made up seven strokes on McIlroy on Saturday and one other 4 on Sunday. The alternate actuality wherein Scheffler wins his third inexperienced jacket just isn’t a universe away. It’s one or possibly two stokes. This is to not diminish McIlroy’s accomplishment — that’s the very last thing in thoughts — however to indicate quite how shut Scheffler was, extra than simply the one stroke on the ultimate leaderboard.
Where he may have made up a pair pictures is staring everybody within the face, Scheffler included.
He performed the par 5s on the second 9 — Nos. 13 and 15 — in 1-over par for the event. Before his birdie on No. 15 on Sunday, the place paradoxically he was probably the most out of place he had been all week to card a par breaker on a kind of holes, Scheffler had been with out a circle on these two holes all week.
From the golf green on Friday, he discovered the water with each of his strategy pictures resulting in a pair of bogeys. Two bogeys, one birdie and 5 pars. McIlroy, in the meantime, performed his eight mixed makes an attempt at these holes in 6 beneath — six birdies and two pars.
His birdie try on No. 17 within the ultimate spherical that went begging has caught fireplace on the web with captions of, “We were this close to a playoff between McIlroy and Scheffler,” however I do not purchase into that nonsense. Butterfly results, event cadences, completely different psychological states and environments — we do not know the way that event performs out.
But we could know the way the remainder of this 12 months will.
Just a pair days faraway from options that he could not be the most effective participant on the planet (these takes are on the market, consider me), Scheffler appeared to have silenced any doubters, at least in the meanwhile. He gained practically 5.50 strokes on strategy in Round 3 and one other 4 on the sector in Round 4. His scrambling was chic because it saved him on this event when his iron play was sometimes scratchy.
The full recreation that Scheffler possesses and everybody is aware of he possesses (and appears to neglect about at the primary signal of bother) was placed on full show. Hopefully, it served as a reminder to take long-term views at a busy, week-to-week sport that’s all the time on the transfer.
McIlroy received this bout. He handled questions of his personal — how may one come again from squandering a six-stroke lead? He answered with the guts of a champion and with out his finest stuff at instances. He handled missed alternatives like Scheffler as properly.
Every participant on this discipline and each golfer on the planet can shave just a few strokes off their spherical when going again by it of their head afterwards.
But none of us are Scottie Scheffler, and if there may be nonetheless juice left to be squeezed, he’ll discover a strategy to get these ultimate few drops subsequent time.
