Scottie Scheffler put the rest of the golfing world on notice ahead of the remainder of the season as the world number one came within one shot of taking Rory McIlroy to a playoff at The Masters.
Scheffler’s strange start to the 2026 season may be over. Of course, the 29-year-old did win at The American Express on his first start of the year. However, he was certainly not firing on all cylinders over the last few months.
That looked set to continue at The Masters. Scheffler was level par and 12 shots back of the lead heading into the weekend at Augusta National.
He very nearly ended up winning his third Green Jacket.
What Scottie Scheffler found on the range ahead of the weekend at The Masters
Scheffler became the first player since 1942 to not make a single bogey over the final two rounds at The Masters. Rounds of 65 and 68 were enough for Scheffler to put himself right in the mix coming down the stretch on Sunday.
And it seems that a trip to Augusta National’s range after his second round was particularly beneficial.
Speaking on the Golf Channel Podcast, Rex Hoggard revealed what his coach Randy Smith had told him about what Scheffler had found while practicing ahead of the weekend.
“When you look at the arc of Scottie Scheffler over the season, where we had talked a lot about things weren’t just right statistically for him. The ball-striking just didn’t add up, whether he said it or not. He would probably argue that he was just a little bit off or maybe he missed a shot here and there. But the stats don’t lie,” he said.
“He’s in the 80s when it comes to strokes gained approach. He’s been first in that category for the last two seasons on the PGA Tour. As you pointed out numerous times, his proximity is way off. We can keep going down the list. Things weren’t just quite right going into The Masters, certainly through the Florida swing. He had two finishes outside the top 20, which is nothing to panic about, but when it’s Scottie Scheffler and you’re used to this level of excellence, certainly you’re going to pay attention to it. And then you end up with what we got for the first two rounds. Thursday was okay. Friday wasn’t good at all.
“He shot 74 on Friday, essentially felt like he played his way out of the tournament. He didn’t. He still ended up having a really good chance on Sunday.
“I will say there always seems to be that epiphany moment when it comes to Scottie Scheffler, and that seemed to happen Friday night on the range with his swing coach, Randy Smith. I was texting back and forth with Randy, and he said he’s just found his rhythm, and he found a way to be a little bit more aggressive through the ball. And I think that’s what we saw through the course of the weekend.
“Even Scottie pointed it out when we spoke to him after his round on Sunday. To be 12 shots off the lead through 36 holes and then to finish up one shot back, I think Scottie takes a lot of momentum from this even though he didn’t win. I know that sounds silly when you’re talking about the world number one, but you can’t ignore what had happened to him through the course of the season. Since he won at The American Express, the ball-striking had been a concern.”
Eerie similarities between Scottie Scheffler’s starts to the 2025 and 2026 season
What is so interesting is how similar Scheffler’s start to the 2025 season was.
Scheffler missed the first few events due to a hand injury. And that appeared to leave him playing catch up, with his first win of the season not coming until The CJ CUP Byron Nelson in May.
The Masters was something of a turning point 12 months ago, with Scheffler finishing fourth despite seemingly playing nowhere near well enough to actually win.
Scheffler does already have a victory this time around. However, that win at La Quinta was clearly not a sign of what was to come.
His final two rounds at Augusta National seem much more significant right now. If Scheffler has indeed worked things out, it may not be too long before he adds to his tally of four major titles.
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