Butch Harmon shares why Scottie Scheffler might actually find it tough at this year’s Masters

Add as preferred source on Google

Scottie Scheffler heads into this week’s Masters tournament as the favourite to win the green jacket for a second time.

Scheffler has been in blistering early season form and picked up two wins from three tournaments, coming within just a single missed putt of forcing a playoff for the hat-trick as well.

With Augusta set to host the best the golfing world has on offer from Thursday through to Sunday, all eyes will be on Scheffler to see if he can maintain his form.

Of course, coming into the tournament as favourite and world number one brings its own pressures.

And speaking ahead of the tournament, Butch Harmon has suggested that it might well be the off-course duties that prove to be Scheffler’s undoing.

Butch Harmon shares why Scottie Scheffler might not win the Masters

Previewing the event for Sky Sports, Harmon spoke about the likelihood of Scheffler keeping his form and winning.

However, Harmon also exercised caution, suggesting that the pressure of being world number one and the media attention that brings could well play a part.

“I think when all the media attention and expectations are on your shoulders, it is a lot more pressure. A lot of guys who got to No 1 in the world didn’t stay there very long; they couldn’t handle that pressure – it’s more the off-course pressure than the on-course pressure,” Harmon said.

“It’s the media stuff, the extra stuff you have to do, the demands on your time that you’re not accustomed to. Scottie’s a very nice young man who has a great family, so I think he has the demeanour that can handle it, but it’s going to be interesting to see how he handles it coming in here. He’s never come into The Masters with all of this anticipation on his shoulders as the No 1 player in the world, the hottest player in the world. How he handles it, I think we will see right away on Thursday with what kind of start he gets off to. Is he the Scottie Scheffler that we’ve seen, the great ball striker that he’s been? We’ll get to see all this stuff on Thursday, and then that’ll give us a little understanding of his demeanour and how his nervous system is handling the off-course stuff.”

Scheffler, along with Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods, will be one of the most watched players making their way around Augusta.

Quite who wins out, will be anyone’s guess. A number of players from LIV, including current holder Jon Rahm, will be hoping for big weeks.