Two-time Masters winner Scottie Scheffler can walk away from Augusta with his head held high after becoming the first player since 1942 to go bogey-free over the final two rounds.
Scheffler, who was one of the tournament favourites coming into this year's Masters, will have been disappointed by his overall performance on Thursday and Friday.
The world No. 1 was even par through 36 holes while defending champion Rory McIlroy held the biggest mid-point lead in tournament history, meaning he was 12 shots adrift of the lead heading into the weekend.
However, after posting a 65 seven under on Saturday – the best round he's ever played in the Masters – a reinvigorated Scheffler was in contention again. “I think that’s what great players do," he said afterwards.
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Scheffler continued to push in the final hours on Sunday and almost hit a birdie on 17 as he sat on 11 under, but the two-time Masters winner narrowly missed out by one shot.
Still, he managed to shoot a magnificent 68. In fact, Scheffler managed to do something no one at the Masters has done since 1942 – a bogey-free weekend.
The 29-year-old recorded 26 pars, nine birdies and one eagle across both days.
Scottie Scheffler explains what cost him victory at Masters
Speaking to reporters after Sunday's final round, Scheffler spoke about his performance at Augusta before explaining why he was ‘surprised’ by the so-called favourable conditions for players on Friday.
“We went out on Thursday, Thursday afternoon was some of the most challenging conditions we had all week,” he said.
“I didn’t see many birdies out there Thursday afternoon, so going out on Friday, whatever they did to the greens to soften them up, they did some stuff, and I just wasn’t able to take advantage of that going on early on Friday.”
“And then you saw the barrage of birdies that Rory made, and Cam Young and a bunch of guys made on Friday late in the day, and I think I finished maybe two-over par on Friday. So that day probably hurt the most in terms of my chances to win.
“Overall, over the course of the weekend, I did some pretty nice stuff to give myself a chance.”
Touching on the conditions, Scheffler added: "I mean, I’m not in charge of course setup. I would have liked it to have been a little bit more equal in terms of the firmness on Thursday and Friday. I was a bit surprised at how soft things were on Friday afternoon, especially as it got late in the day.
“But the weather also changes and it was a bit windy on Thursday, so who knows. That’s part of the game. We play an outdoor sport, and you don’t know how conditions are going to change, especially course conditions.
“Overall, like I said, Friday for me going out early not being able to shoot an under-par round definitely hurt my chances. I think I started the weekend maybe 12 back, so to get within one was a pretty good run.”
Jack Kenmare