A dramatic final day at The Masters saw Scottie Scheffler climb the leaderboard and end up in fourth place, but the world number one knows exactly where he came unstuck in his pursuit of Rory McIlroy.
Scottie Scheffler was many people’s favourite going into The Masters this year, but his chances of claiming a third green jacket looked dead in the water going into the final day.
However, a -3 on day four propelled Scheffler to within touching distance of the leaders, and a final score of eight under was enough to secure him a top four finish.
In the end, Rory McIlroy claimed the win to complete his career grand slam and put on the green jacket for the first time.
The winner ended up three shots ahead of Scheffler, but it could all have been very different if one or two shots had gone Scheffler’s way on the home stretch.
Scottie Scheffler identifies hole 15 as his downfall at The Masters
Speaking after registering his scorecard for the day and the tournament, Scheffler was forthcoming about where he fell short over the course of the four days, and he pins it down to one hole on day four.
He said: “I felt like I had to birdie the last three holes. Not making birdie on 15 definitely hurt. But overall the bogey on 12 kind of set me back a little bit.
“But I bounced back quick with birdies on 13 and 14. I felt like I bounced back really well today. I had a bogey on 4; came back with a great birdie on 5, and I fought really hard today. Just wasn’t able to get it done.”
Of course, if he would have bagged that birdie on 15, who’s to say what would have followed. Throw in the dropped shot on hole 4 and Scottie would have been within one, and no one would have bet against the world number one in that position.
- READ MORE: Phil Mickelson sends message after Rory McIlroy wins The Masters and completes the career grand slam
A poor Scottie Scheffler still finished top five at Augusta National
The Scottie Scheffler we saw over the course of this Masters was a shadow of the player we have seen dominate the sport over recent years.
He didn’t look quite as happy as usual, and certainly wasn’t as flawless as we have come to expect, either, with a few unusually ineffective shots throughout the four day event.
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Tot |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Par | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 72 |
| Score | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 69 |
And yet, he still managed to finish fourth, which is testament to the near-effortless quality of the man.
When asked about his form and the finish he achieved, Scheffler added: “I think it was easily a week in which I could have gotten frustrated with either how I was playing or how I was swinging or stuff going on on the course, not hitting it where I was looking.
“I was just proud of the way we hung in there and put up a good fight. A few different things happen today and I maybe have a chance in the tournaments. I wasn’t far off. Overall it was a good week for me mentally and something to build off of.”
To be fair, this is one year at The Masters that we’re sure any golfer can appreciate and sit back and just enjoy seeing an icon of the game get his dues, finally. McIlroy’s win will go down in history as one of the great sporting moments, and even Scheffler can’t deny him that special feeling this time.
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