Masters class: Inside Scottie Scheffler’s dominant Day 2 at Augusta National
Randy Smith gripped the green rope lining the 10th fairway at Augusta National Golf Club as he peered back toward the tee box. There stood Scottie Scheffler, his longtime protegé, the world No. 1 and, in case you haven’t heard, the leader after two rounds of play at the Masters.
Maybe 50 people looked on as Scheffler reared back and obliterated his latest tee shot 309 yards down the middle. Smith took off walking. He knew exactly where it landed — that instinct comes from working with the same golfer for 18 years.
By the time Scheffler sank his final putt Friday for a 5-under 67 to reach 8-under for the tournament just after 7:15 p.m., the gallery at the 18th hole went as many as 15 patrons deep in spots. Everyone wanted a glimpse of the ex-Texas Longhorn and the man who tied the record for the largest 36-hole lead in Masters history.
“It’s no adjustment (to the big crowds),” Smith, who’s worked with Scheffler since he was 7 years old, told The State. “It’s like, ‘Thank you. Keep bringing this.’ ”
Winds ripped through Augusta National on Friday as the course put on its best Pebble Beach impression. Gusts reached above 20 mph throughout the afternoon. Even Scheffler was briefly tamed by Mother Nature, bogeying two of his first three holes.
A birdie on No. 2 alleviated some stress. So too did a second birdie at No. 7. Then came the third birdie of the day on No. 8. The missed two-foot birdie putt he skated by on the par-4 ninth? It almost didn’t matter. Scheffler was in the zone.
“My goal and what (caddie) Teddy (Scott) and I talked about at the beginning of the day was just being committed to the shots because the wind is going to move around, you’re going to get bad bounces, you’re going to get bad gusts, all these things are going to happen because the golf course is playing so tough,” Scheffler said.
“But if I’m committed to my shots, I’m able to live freely in that and know that I did my best to hit a good shot, and I didn’t let the conditions or whatever it is bother me.”
Hole No. 11 has played as the toughest on the course through two days. On Friday, players averaged 4.629 strokes on the 520-yard par 4 that played as much as 20 or 30 yards longer considering the elements.
No matter.
Scheffler clocked his drive to the middle of the fairway, another 300-yard bomb. His approach promptly rolled off the right side of the green. But Scheffler persisted as he did throughout the round, escaping unscathed.
He pitched his third shot to seven feet. He drained his putt for par.
“That hole is a par 5,” Scheffler said. “We walked off, and Teddy goes, ‘Nice birdie.’ ”
Scheffler didn’t entirely avoid trouble on Friday, but he attacked it. Smoking a muddy ball on the par 5 13th from the right side of the fairway, he sent it sailing well right of the green. It looked destined for the creek guarding the front side of the green. Instead, it nestled on the paltry patch of grass just in front of the gallery. Scheffler tried to draw the ball, Smith explained, leaving the club face too far open.
He still got up and down for birdie.
“I need to find somebody who saw that (second shot),” Smith quipped. “I don’t know how it would’ve hit the gallery and ended up there.”
Scheffler found more trouble on holes 14, 15 and 17. He hit his drive on 14 into the rough on the right side, then left his approach short as it rolled down a bank off the putting surface. He missed the green entirely on the par-5 15th well right, placing it just shy of the grandstand. He landed his second shot on 17 in the bunker.
He escaped those holes a combined 1-under.
“It’s nice to build up a little bit of a lead, but I’m not really going to be thinking about it tonight or anything,” Scheffler said. “I’ve put myself in position to play well and to win this golf tournament, and going into tomorrow, I’m just going to approach it like I did today and just be committed to my shots and hope for the best.”
That Scheffler is the Masters leader through two days shouldn’t be hard to fathom. He’s the No. 1 golfer in the world. He won three of his past five starts heading into the week. DraftKings even gave him the third-best odds of anyone to take home the green jacket, tied with Players champion Cameron Smith and Columbia native Dustin Johnson.
But it’s the way that Scheffler distanced himself from a crowded leaderboard on Friday that bears merit. That’s where you have to strain your neck, tilt your head and squint.
Who is this guy, again?
Two months ago, Scheffler was just another former college golfer trying to find his form on the PGA Tour. Suddenly, he’s the front-runner and, barring a colossal collapse, should end the weekend with a green jacket to his name.
“You know it’s funny, because you want to think the absolute very best for all of your players —whether it’s Jordan Spieth, or Dylan Frittelli or Jhonattan Vegas, whatever,” longtime Texas golf coach John Fields told The State on Friday night. “But to think of something like this? Honestly, no (I couldn’t imagine it).”
It’s been 25 years since Tiger Woods torched the competition for a record-setting 12-shot win at the 1997 Masters. Masses of fans again flooded the fairways to follow the five-time Masters winner on Friday as continues his return to competition from a traumatic car accident.
Roars echoed across the fairways as Woods willed his way to a 2-over 74 to make the cut. But after his round wrapped, those patrons that stuck around into the fleeting minutes of daylight around Augusta National were rewarded by a sweet-swinging, 25-year-old Texan donning a blue sweater branded with Woods’ “TW” logo between his shoulder blades.
Scheffler may not win by 12 strokes this week. He may not even win, period. But if he maintains the form he’s had over the last two days — and, really, the last two months — he’ll have plenty beyond Smith pulling down their sunglasses to take a gander at greatness in the making.
Masters TV, radio, live stream coverage
Third round coverage of the Masters will be broadcast on CBS on Saturday (3-7 p.m.), with the final found Sunday (2-7 p.m.).
Viewers can also stream the tournament on ESPN Plus, Paramount Plus and through the Masters’ official website in the United States.
Saturday’s featured groups
10:30 a.m. — Viktor Hovland, Min Woo Lee
11:30 a.m. — Cameron Champ, Tony Finau
1 p.m. — Kevin Kisner, Tiger Woods
2 p.m. — Collin Morikawa, Will Zalatoris
2:30 p.m. — Hideki Matsuyama, Harold Varner III
Saturday Masters tee times
10:20 a.m. — Mackenzie Hughes, Adam Scott
10:30 a.m. — Viktor Hovland, Min Woo Lee
10:40 a.m. — Marc Leishman, Seamus Power
10:50 a.m. — Cameron Davis, Lucas Glover
11 a.m. — Tommy Fleetwood, Max Homa
11:10 a.m. — Tom Hoge, Billy Horschel
11:20 a.m. — Russell Henley, Patrick Reed
11:30 a.m. — Cameron Champ, Tony Finau
11:40 a.m. — Daniel Berger, Talor Gooch
Noon — Si Woo Kim, Jason Kokrak
12:10 p.m. — Harry Higgs, Hudson Swafford
12:20 p.m. — Rory McIlroy, Sepp Straka
12:30 p.m. — Tyrrell Hatton, Jon Rahm
12:40 p.m. — Sergio Garcia, Bubba Watson
12:50 p.m. — Robert Macintyre, Lee Westwood
1 p.m. — Kevin Kisner, Tiger Woods
1:10 p.m. — Patrick Cantlay, Webb Simpson
1:20 p.m. — Matt Fitzpatrick, J.J. Spaun
1:40 p.m. — Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Justin Thomas
1:50 p.m. — Joaquin Niemann, Danny Willett
2 p.m. — Collin Morikawa, Will Zalatoris
2:10 p.m. —Corey Conners, Cameron Smith
2:20 p.m. — Dustin Johnson, Kevin Na
2:30 p.m. — Hideki Matsuyama, Harold Varner III
2:40 p.m. — Sungjae Im, Shane Lowry
2:50 p.m. — Scottie Scheffler, Charl Schwartzel
This story was originally published April 9, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
