Scheffler’s late surge was built on a superb moving day 65 – a career low at Augusta – followed by a composed, bogey-free final round of 68.
It capped an 11-under performance across the final two days, a remarkable turnaround after he began the weekend well off the pace following a frustrating Friday 74.
“I put up a good fight… just ultimately came up a couple shots short,” Scheffler said. “But overall, over the weekend, I, you know, I put up a good fight. I did a lot of good stuff in order to give myself a chance and just ultimately came up a couple shots short.”
Having started the weekend 12 strokes adrift, the world No. 1 mounted a relentless charge up the leaderboard. Birdies at the par-five 15th and 16th on Sunday briefly put him within striking distance, but a handful of missed opportunities down the stretch – including a narrow miss on the 17th green that could have forced a playoff – proved decisive.
“I knew going into today I was going to have to do something special if I wanted to catch [McIlroy] and Cam [Young] and I was close, but just a few shots here or there,” he said. “Obviously, if you’re chasing you’d like to sneak one [birdie] in there and I gave myself some opportunities. Disappointing par on 13, and I wasn’t able to get it in the fairway on 14, that was a shot I’d like to have back but then good birdies on 15 and 16 and really great stuff on 17. I hit two really good shots into 18 and the second shot just came up short.”
Reflecting on a week that slipped away early, Scheffler pointed to the fine margins that define success at Augusta.
“Yeah, I mean, the first two days, I played what I felt was really solid on Thursday. And then Friday, you know, with the softer greens, you know, that round really hurt, especially the mistakes I made on the back nine,” he said. “Overall I’m not going to hold too many regrets, but yeah, definitely a bit disappointed now. I started the weekend 12 shots back and ended up only one shot back. If I am going to blame anything, I should probably blame the first two rounds before I start looking at stuff from the last couple.”
