AUGUSTA, Ga. — What are the four things that can hold Scottie Scheffler back from winning his first major championship?
He took a record-tying 5-shot, 36-hole lead into Saturday. Herman Keiser, Jack Nicklaus, Ray Floyd and Jordan Spieth donned a green jackets after leading by five shots at the halfway point of their respective Masters victories.
Only Harry Cooper couldn’t get a win — he finished second in 1936 after taking a five-shot lead through 36 holes.
History suggests Scheffler controls his own destiny, but things can always go wrong. Five-shot leads can go waning, as he gave a couple shot back in the closing holes Saturday, and leads by three with one round remaining.
Scheffler himself, and more specifically his footwork, could be an issue in Sunday’s final round.
1. On the back nine in Saturday’s third round, Scheffler needed some Arthur Murray lessons, as his footwork was unstable and he sent shots all over Augusta National, including his drive on 18 that found the left trees and required a drop and an eventual bogey.
It's not the first time that his footwork, which may come to be known as The Scheffler Shuffle, has been critiqued and to some extend questioned.
It was all working during his three wins in five starts, and while building that 5-shot lead through 36-holes. But could it raise its ugly head on Sunday?
2. Could it be pressure? Now with only a 3-shot lead over Australian Cameron Smith, we'll see if the footwork holds up.
Scheffler doesn’t seem to let pressure bother him, and he points to his experience with college coach John Fields at the University of Texas.
Scheffler would hit what he called “just horrible” shots in the middle of rounds in college, and Fields would press Scheffler.
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“Scottie, if that was the 18th hole and you were trying to win the golf tournament, you would never hit a shot like that,” Scheffler recalls. “He was 100 percent correct. And so that's something I've worked on, just being focused, and committed to each shot.”
So, pressure doesn’t seem to be an issue, at least according to Scheffler. He's confident he's ready to handle everything he can control.
“The rest isn't up to me,” Scheffler said. “I can't worry about the gust or where the wind is coming or how the shot is going to bounce. I just know the shot that I see and try to hit it, and after that it's not up to me.”
3. Cameron Smith made 10 birdies in the final round of the Players Championship while winning by one shot. Through 54 holes this week, Smith has 16 birdies and Scheffler 17.
If Smith could come close to replicating his performance in the final round of the Players Championship on Sunday without making mistakes, he could win.
Smith has made four double bogeys in 54 holes at Augusta National. If they would have been bogeys instead, Smith, not Scheffler would be leading.
4. Could someone outside of the final pairing win a green jacket?
Not since Danny Willett won in 2016 has someone won the Masters from outside the final pairing.
The Englishman started the final round T5 and three shots behind leader Jordan Spieth. Willett would shoot a final round 5-under 67 and Spieth would record a 1-over 73 to lose by three.
However, the odds are that the winner on Sunday will likely comes from the final group.
If not Scheffler or Smith, then it will be either Sunjgae Im (5 shots back), or possibly 2019 Open champion Steve Lowry or 2011 Masters champion Charl Schwartzel (7 shots back).
But both Scheffler and Smith would have to fold in some way, which doesn’t seem likely.
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April 10, 2022 at 08:55AM
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Four Ways Scottie Scheffler Could Lose This Masters on Sunday - Sports Illustrated
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