Scottie Scheffler is shockingly well off the pace at The Masters.
A lacklustre 74 in his second round means he is 12 shots back of the leading Rory McIlroy going into the weekend. The two-time Masters champion has not been his typical clinical self through 36 holes.
Scheffler said he was happy enough with his round, but said he was shocked by how slow the greens were playing. He misread a series of makeable putts during his round which stalled any potential momentum.
But this might not be all his fault. He actually has a right to be completely furious with Augusta National after how they setup the course on both days.
Scottie Scheffler had the worst of the conditions on both days at The Masters
On day one of this year’s Masters, you wanted to be out there in the morning. Not a drop of rain had fallen on Augusta all week, and it dried out significantly over the course of the day. By the time Scheffler arrived on the back nine it was nearly impossible to hold the greens. Augusta National was playing tough.
He said afterwards that he was looking forward to having easier conditions for his second round so he can claw back some ground to the leaders, but he was robbed of that opportunity. Augusta National watered the greens after Thursday’s play, making it surprisingly slow and soft to start the day.
Andrew Novak was the first to sound the alarm, explaining how he three-putted the first because the greens were so slow. Jordan Spieth left everything short all day, and Justin Rose had trouble with the speed early.
Can anyone catch Rory McIlroy? 👀
McIlroy had the read of the greens on the back nine, birdieing six of the last seven, but he admitted in his post game press conference that he realised how slow they would play after watching the early starters.
So the players in the afternoon round, who had the best of the conditions on Thursday, had the advantage once again being able to watch the early starters. And the final 90 minutes of McIlroy’s round was by far the easiest the course played all day.
Scheffler, who was hoping for a firm and fast Friday afternoon which would have seen the leaders come back to him, instead was the crash test dummy for McIlroy to extend his lead.
Why Augusta National watered the greens before the second round
In fairness to the Augusta groundskeepers, they are the best in the world at what they do, and this decision wouldn’t have come without good reason. After watching Scheffler’s group struggle down the stretch on Thursday, they needed to take action.
The course was a difficult test in round one, but that would have been nothing compared to Sunday if they didn’t intervene. The ground was already beginning to turn purple, and the greens looked like glass.
Augusta’s aim is to prepare the golf course to be in prime condition on Sunday, and with a red hot weather forecast for the weekend, they needed to reset it. The conditions will be back to their toughest on the final round, but it might have been unplayable without this water.
So while Scheffler was the unfortunate victim of this decision, it wouldn’t have been made lightly. Now we can look forward to a firm test over the final two rounds without it crossing the line.
Receive exclusive golf news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
