Masters

For anyone on this side of the pond who didn't stay up late last night

For eight holes yesterday at Augusta National overnight leader and hot favourite Scottie Scheffler was chased, and briefly caught. A bogey on the seventh hole left him standing on the eighth tee in a four-way tie with Colin Morikawa, Max Homa and Ludvig Aberg. Then, from the ninth hole onwards. the pursuing pack fell away one by one in the face of a flurry of Scheffler birdies.

Scheffler made a less confident start to his final round than on any of the first three days. On the first hole a perfect drive was followed by a very uncharacteristically weak pitch which failed to reach the putting surface and two steady putts were needed to secure a par. On the downhill second hole his drive finished close to the face of the fairway bunker on the right, leaving the green well out of reach. His very clumsy third shot flew right over the green into the crowd. Only a very delicate chip and good putt saved par.

Normal service was resumed on the third with a brilliant pitch from the left greenside bunker which set up his first birdie. At the par three fourth he appeared to over-club and was unable to get up and down from the bottom of the bank behind the green. Another uncharacteristic wild drive on the seventh led to a second bogey.

At this point, however, Scheffler changed gear. A bold second shot, hit with a driving iron up the hill from a slightly out of position drive on the left edge of the eighth fairway, was followed by a good chip and set up a birdie. Then, on the ninth, his sensational approach came to rest inches from the cup. This pressured Morikawa, who had been matching him almost shot for shot, into trying to do too much from the greenside bunker. He failed to get out and paid the price with a double bogey.

A third consecutive Scheffler birdie at the tenth put him two strokes clear of the field for the first time. Amen Corner duly took its toll of the rest of the chasing pack. Aberg, found the water left of the eleventh green and Homa’s tee shot on twelve ended in an unplayable lie behind the green. These mishaps cost each of them double bogeys.

The rest, as they say, is history. Scheffler stayed aggressive, going for the carry at both thirteen and fifteen. Yet another birdie on sixteen, his seventh of the day, gave him a comfortable cushion to rest on through the last two holes.

More on the Masters, and on watching golf, in my first full post this coming Saturday.