No. 1 Scottie Scheffler says sniffles won’t deter chase for third green jacket

If he succeeds, Scheffler will become only the fourth golfer to win back-to-back Masters. The company is pretty elite: Jack Nicklaus (1965-66), Nick Faldo (1989-90) and Tiger Woods (2001-02).

“I would say that I feel very prepared for this golf tournament,” Scheffler said. “This is definitely the most prepared I’ve felt all year.”

His history at Augusta National rivals the best. In five starts at the Masters, he has two wins — by four shots in 2024 with a beard and by three strokes in 2022 while clean-shaven — and has never finished outside of the top 20. In 20 career rounds, he has finished over par only twice, with the worst score being 75.

In 360 holes played at Augusta, Scheffler has made only 49 bogeys and only doubles. That is offset by 83 birdies and four eagles, which explains his scoring average of 70.4.

“I don’t really focus on a lot of that stuff,” he said. “I try not to look too much into the past. I try not to look too far into the future. I just like to stay in the present and just go one week at a time.”

Scheffler arrived Sunday and played a round. His Monday practice time was washed out, giving him a mental break and allowed him to spend some time in the gym. He played the front nine Tuesday and will play the back nine Wednesday. After that it’s go time.

Last season Scheffler won seven times, including the season-ending Tour Championship, and was runner-up twice. He didn’t miss a cut and finished among the top 10 in 16 of 19 starts.

This season in the six starts since getting a belated start because of surgery to his right hand, Scheffler has done everything except win. His worst showing was a tie for 25th at the Phoenix Open. He tied for third at the Genesis Invitational, closing with a 66, and tied for second at the Houston Open with weekend rounds of 69-63.

“This year coming off an injury was definitely a different feeling than I’ve had in the last few years,” Scheffler said. “But as far as preparation goes, this is definitely as prepared as I’ve felt going into any event his year, and I’m excited to get the tournament going.”

Scheffler has used his consistency and his adept iron play to subdue Augusta National. He’s also been able to adjust to the different conditions, whether it’s rain or cold or win.

“The last couple years we’ve had some really interesting weather days,” he said. “I think in ‘22 we had some high wind days and we had a really cold day that was windy and firm. Then in ‘23 we had one or two days where we played through some pretty heavy rains, so a softer golf course. Then last year we had a good mix where we had some high winds, we also had some soft conditions that firmed up come Sunday. A lot of the strategy for this place changes with the conditions of the course.”

Scheffler is paired the first two rounds with Justin Thomas and Jose Luis Ballester of Spain, the reigning U.S. Amateur champion.