Scottie Scheffler’s streak ended on Friday at the 90th Masters.
The world No. 1 started the week as a favourite to slip into a third green jacket. He did enough with his opening-round 70 to remain in contention. But things got uncharacteristically wobbly for Scheffler in the second round, as he faded to a 2-over 74 that dropped him back to even par for the week.
Streak Snapped at Augusta
It’s just the third time in 24 career rounds at Augusta National that Scheffler has failed to break par. It snaps a run of 11 straight rounds of par or better that dated back to the third round in 2023. It was the third-longest such streak in Masters history behind Tiger Woods and Jon Rahm.
“Today I felt like I played a lot better than my score,” Scheffler said. “I got off to a slow start. A few up-and-downs early that I should have had that I didn’t convert.”
Scheffler’s Troubles on the Course
Scheffler explained that the only shot he wanted to hit again would be his approach to the par-5 13th. With a hanging lie in the undulating fairway, he played a 3-iron approach expecting it to draw toward the green. Instead, it hung out to the right and bounded into a tributary of Rae’s Creek.
“Maybe a different decision there,” he admitted.
That approach on No. 13 led to a bogey, as did a watery approach to the par-5 15th, which sailed over the green and bounded into the penalty area that guards the 16th hole. They were two of four bogeys on the day for Scheffler, who was outside the top 20 when he signed his scorecard.
Putting Woes Hamper Scheffler
“I would like to hole a few more putts. I felt like it was rolling nice today, but balls just weren’t dropping. Maybe my reads were a little bit off,” Scheffler said. “It was frustrating to get back to Even, have a couple par-5s in front of me, and then not do many things I felt wrong and wasn’t able to convert really basically anything coming down the stretch.”
Scheffler will comfortably make the 36-hole cut, his seventh straight to begin what has been a fruitful Masters career. He’ll look to start a new streak in red figures Saturday to rekindle chances for a comeback win – or at least give himself a chance for a fifth straight top-10 finish in the year’s first major.
“You can’t force anything around this place,” Scheffler said. “I definitely struck it well enough to have a really, really nice round today. So go get a bit of practice, get some rest and get ready for tomorrow.”