Scottie Scheffler finished one stroke behind Rory McIlroy at the 90th Masters Tournament, mounting a remarkable comeback from 12 shots back at the halfway point with weekend rounds of 65 and 68 at Augusta National.
Strong Recovery Falls Short
Scheffler’s second-round 74 ultimately dashed his hopes of a third green jacket. Despite not playing his best golf throughout the week, his runner-up finish highlights his elite skill level. He posted a 70 in challenging conditions during Thursday’s afternoon wave.
Criticism of Course Setup
Scheffler expressed surprise at the course conditions shifting dramatically. The afternoon groups on Friday encountered softer, more receptive greens, which he viewed as unequal compared to Thursday’s firmness.
After his final round, Scheffler addressed reporters on the setup: “I mean, I’m not in charge of course setup. I would have liked it to have been a little bit more equal in terms of the firmness on Thursday and Friday. I was a bit surprised at how soft things were on Friday afternoon, especially as it got late in the day. But the weather also changes and it was a bit windy on Thursday, so who knows.”
He added, “That’s part of the game. We play an outdoor sport and you don’t know how conditions are going to change, especially course conditions. Overall, like I said, Friday for me going out early not being able to shoot an under-par round definitely hurt my chances. I think I started the weekend maybe 12 back, so to get within one was a pretty good run.”
Friday Round Proves Costly
When asked about missing victory by a single stroke, Scheffler pinpointed Friday as the key setback. “Yeah, I’d say Friday probably hurt the most in terms of my chances of winning,” he stated.
“We went out on Thursday, Thursday afternoon were some of the most challenging conditions we had all week. I didn’t see many birdies out there Thursday afternoon, so going out on Friday, whatever they did to the greens to soften them up, they did some stuff, and I just wasn’t able to take advantage of that going on early on Friday.”
“And then you saw the barrage of birdies that Rory made and Cam Young and a bunch of guys made on Friday late in the day, and I think I finished maybe 2-over par on Friday. So that day probably hurt the most in terms of my chances to win. Overall, over the course of the weekend, I did some pretty nice stuff to give myself a chance.”
