Dan Rapaport names player who he is ‘afraid’ of on Masters Sunday after backing Scottie Scheffler to win

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Scottie Scheffler has shot into contention at The Masters after a superb seven-under 65 in round three shot him up the leaderboard.

Scheffler is tied for seventh on seven-under heading into Sunday at Augusta National, just four shots off the lead.

Cameron Young joined him with a third round 65 to soar to the very top of the leaderboard, level with defending champion Rory McIlroy.

And it is the former who has struck fear into Dan Rapaport as he sticks with his decision of backing Scheffler to win The Masters.

Dan Rapaport ‘afraid’ of Cameron Young after picking Scottie Scheffler for Masters win

Rapaport said on Dan on Golf before the final round at Augusta: “My pick the whole week has been Scottie.

“There has been part of me that wants to go full ‘I don’t apologize’. I don’t change my pick. I am going to stick with Scottie.

“But I am afraid of Cameron Young and the way he is playing right now. He is driving it like a stallion.

“It would be strange that for three straight years the Players champion would win The Masters. That is bizarre. Scottie in 2024, Rory in 2025, this year it would be Cameron Young.

“Maybe that’s just a proxy for the guy playing the best at the time tends to win The Masters as The Players is the biggest tournament going in.

“My heart says Scottie, I picked him at the start of the week, I think it would be an amazing story if he came back from 12 down after 36 holes but I really feel like Cameron Young has reached that level.

“He has always been a guy, since he was 15, you started hearing about Cam Young when I was in New York. ‘He is a special one’. I have kind of kept track on him.

“And let’s not forget that Cam Young in 2022 finished second for The Open Championship at St. Andrews and I think he finished in the top five at the PGA that year. In his rookie year.

“He has this big game. He has this stocky, on the range tempo, where you are like that guy is incredible. And now he has the confidence and he is a good putter now.

“I have said a lot of stuff about caddies and I feel like it’s the players who hit the shots. But he is giving a ton of credit to his caddie and he has gone through a lot of them.

“He has a buggy on the bag who he says is one of the best green readers he has ever been around and he says it’s really changed his green reading.

“It has changed his entire game to be able to read greens that well and trust it. So I think Cam is the guy to beat tomorrow.

“And I don’t think it’s because Rory is feeling a certain way. I just think he got absolutely everything he ever could out of the round on Friday.

“He chipped in on 17 from an incredible spot. He made a bunch of long putts and made them on Thursday.

“And that is one of the reasons why when you look at the season long statistics, the best putters are not typically the best players, because if a guy gets hot with a putter wins one week, it’s not sustainable on a week-to-week basis as ball striking.

“Rory is putting too much pressure on his short game by missing all these fairways. I don’t think it’s a mental thing or feeling the pressure, I just think he is struggling with his golf swing and struggling with the golf swing is not a fun place to be at a major championship going into a Sunday.”

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Why Scottie Scheffler has a great chance of winning The Masters

Momentum is very much with Young, who produced a remarkable display after starting his day eight shots off the lead.

But several factors will undoubtedly now come into play at Augusta, including experience at the course and in golf in general.

He is making just his fifth start at The Masters this week, while Scheffler is making his seventh and McIlroy is making his 18th.

Knowledge of the iconic course could be the difference on Sunday, but perhaps more so will be handling the pressure.

Both McIlroy and Scheffler have done it all before, with the former triumphing last year after the latter got over the line in 2022 and 2024.

A quick start could be key to calming any nerves, with Scheffler able to pile real pressure on the leaders if he can hit the ground running in his earlier tee time.

He’s paired with Haotong Li in the fourth-last pairing on Sunday, while Young and McIlroy are last out, and the defending champion has just suffered a big confidence blow.

In a ruthless performance from the two-time champion and world number one, Scheffler went bogey-free on Saturday, carding one eagle, five birdies and 12 pars.

Young did, however, lead the way for birdies with eight, having added nine pars and one bogey.

Read more:

Cameron Young says if he really thought he had a chance of catching Rory McIlroy at The Masters

Rory McIlroy reacts after his disappointing third round at The Masters and praises Scottie Scheffler

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