Scottie Scheffler questions fairness of Masters | Golf News

Scottie Scheffler voiced his frustration with the course circumstances at Augusta National after falling short of Rory McIlroy by just one stroke at the Masters.

Scheffler mounted a outstanding comeback over the weekend, carding rounds of 65-68 to end at 11 under par, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a tough start to the event. Rory McIlroy took the win and the massive top prize money, before President Donald Trump rapidly despatched him a message after he holed the profitable putt.

The world No. 1 Scheffler teed off in the penultimate group on Thursday and encountered some of the most difficult circumstances of the week, as the course dried out significantly as the day progressed. He posted a two-under-par 70, adopted by a deeply disappointing second spherical that drew criticism for his “attitude”.

When he returned to the course on Friday, circumstances had softened significantly following substantial in a single day watering. This neutralized the demanding circumstances and boosted scoring alternatives, yet Scheffler failed to take benefit, capturing a two-over-par 74 to discover himself 12 pictures off the tempo at the midway mark.

A gutsy weekend efficiency gave him a real shot down the stretch, but the hole in the end proved insurmountable as McIlroy ground out the victory with a one-under-par 71.

Scheffler will no doubt look back on Friday’s spherical with remorse, and he has expressed his want for Augusta National to restrict its watering practices in order to preserve constant circumstances for both the early and late starters in the draw.

“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,” he said. “I was a bit surprised at how soft things were on Friday afternoon, especially as it got late in the day.

“But the climate also adjustments, and it was a bit windy on Thursday, so who is aware of. That’s half of the sport. We play an outside sport, and you do not know how circumstances are going to change, particularly the course circumstances.

“Overall, on Friday, going out early and 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.”

He went on to say: “I’d say Friday probably hurt the most in terms of my chances of winning. We went out on Thursday, Thursday afternoon were some of the most challenging conditions we had all week. I didn’t see many birdies out there Thursday afternoon.

“Going out on Friday, whatever they did to the greens to soften them up, they did some stuff, and I just wasn’t ready to take benefit 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.”