Scottie Scheffler’s Comeback at Augusta National
Scottie Scheffler found himself in the training room and on the practice facility when, on Friday afternoon, Rory McIlroy started to show his true potential at Augusta National. ‘I saw a bit of it,’ the world No 1 said on Saturday. ‘It was pretty special stuff.’ While the details of what Scheffler might have been thinking remain unknown, it’s clear that McIlroy’s performance opened up a historic halfway lead, causing the American’s hopes of a third green jacket to fade.
However, what became evident on Saturday was that something had sparked Scheffler’s determination. After two days of lackluster play, he suddenly clicked and then snapped into action.
At the start of Moving Day, Scheffler was at level par—12 shots off the lead. He was struggling to make an impact on the leaderboard and was closer to the cut line than to McIlroy. But all that changed on Saturday. As McIlroy stumbled, Scheffler delivered a brilliant, bogey-free 65 that put him at -7 and right back in contention. He then climbed onto a podium near the clubhouse and addressed reporters with some sharp words.
‘That’s just a terrible question,’ he said to the first inquiry. ‘Next question. Awful.’ Someone had dared to ask if, despite hitting five birdies and an eagle, Scheffler could have gone even lower. While it was a harmless and fair question, Scheffler admitted almost immediately that he could have done better.
‘It definitely could have been lower. But I did what I needed to do,’ he said. ‘More of that tomorrow, and I think I’ll be in a good spot.’
This much is clear. Over the first 11 holes on Saturday, he was six-under-par, and now, heading into Sunday’s closing round, the world No 1 is within touching distance.
Augusta National is a course full of undulations and a tournament known for wild swings of fortune. Snakes and ladders are everywhere at the Masters. But no one lurks in the rearview mirror quite as menacingly as Scheffler.
‘I hit it really nice today,’ he said. ‘I gave myself a lot of opportunities. I took advantage of those on the front nine, and then back nine I did a lot of good things and I was really, really close to seeing a lot go in.’
Scheffler, the champion here in 2022 and 2024, has not won a tournament since January. He has not had a top-10 finish in a couple of months. A barren run by his standards, and the birth of his second child, Remy—just days before this tournament—hardly made his preparations any simpler.
But Scheffler said on Friday that he felt he was playing better than the leaderboard suggested. And on Saturday, the American put his foot down almost immediately.
At the par-five second hole, he struck a 265-yard approach to just 6ft before rolling in his eagle putt.
The world No 1 failed to make further headway until the seventh, when another fine approach set up another birdie. From there, Scheffler began to motor. A fine pitch helped him improve to four-under at the eighth before another eagle almost followed at nine. From 160 yards, Scheffler’s ball skipped towards the hole, only to catch the lip and stay out.
Another birdie at 11 made it four in five holes. From there, there were few more fireworks—just another birdie at 16 and a terrific par-save at the last to ensure his scorecard stayed blot-free.
This time it was McIlroy’s turn to watch his rival find his groove. Maybe Scheffler’s mood will have improved by Sunday night.
