Scottie Scheffler had one of the all-time great Masters rounds to get himself in contention, but you wouldn’t have known it judging by his reaction.
The world number one shot a second-round 65 to bring himself to within four shots of the leading Rory McIlroy and Cameron Young, despite starting the weekend 12 shots back.
But he missed a number of putts which would have given him an opportunity to break the course record at Augusta National. He was therefore asked after his round what score he thought was possible for him on the day, and Scheffler wasn’t best pleased.
“That’s just a terrible question. Next question. Awful,” was his response as he scoffed at the journalist. It was not a good look, and fans took to social media to slam Scheffler afterward.
Then, Dan Rapaport weighed in with his take on Scheffler’s response.
Dan Rapaport says Scottie Scheffler’s actions after third round were ‘weird’
Rapaport, speaking on Dan on Golf, following the conclusion of a dramatic third round, shared his thoughts on Scheffler’s strange response.
He said, “That was kind of weird, right? It didn’t feel like that bad of a question, especially because I saw a clip that came out later from an earlier interview, and he said to Amanda Balionis that he left a few out there today.
“I don’t know if it’s something personal with that reporter, but then you can also see after he said it that he felt like an a—-hole, so he kind of give it the ‘I wasn’t being serious’ but he was in the moment.
“I kind of get it. He shot 65 on The Masters on Saturday and the first question is about what could that have been or what should that have been. This is why I try to stay away from press conferences as much as possible.
“It’s just not a normal human interaction. It’s just not. They don’t want to talk to you after the round, most of these guys, they want to go practice if they have a chance to win The Masters, they want to rest as they have a big day coming up tomorrow.
“I was there this week with the media crew, and I asked a few questions in the pre-round press conferences, but I so prefer when I am able to talk to guys when we are doing a walk with them or they’re on the show, because you can follow up or ask them why it’s a stupid question.
“In that situation the guy asks the question, Scottie says that, I am sure that he turns bright red, he can’t get a follow-up from Scottie, and Scottie can’t follow up with him and tell him what he means.
“It’s fair. It’s not the worst question that has ever been asked in a press conference. But I find it curious that Scottie picked that one out. I have never heard him say that’s terrible, usually he will give a sassy response, but he won’t just say it’s a terrible question.”
It’s a strange response from Rapaport. Surely a journalist’s job is to ask the important questions, whether the athlete likes what they are being asked or not?
And Scheffler’s response was unnecessary. It was an unwelcome mark on what was otherwise an excellent day.
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