Scottie Scheffler blitzed Augusta National. And then a reporter's question

Scottie Scheffler answering reporters' questions after the third round of the Masters.masters

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Scottie Scheffler had a memorable Saturday at Augusta National. He eagled the par-5 2nd, made five birdies and no bogeys and signed for his lowest-ever Masters round, a sublime seven-under 65 that propelled him into contention in this 90th playing of the tournament; at day’s end he was seven under for the week, just four back of Rory McIlroy and Cameron Young. It would surprise no one if Scheffler cards another 65 Sunday and slips on his third green jacket in five years.

When Scheffler had tended to his post-third-round scoring duties on what was a warm, still day at Augusta, he met with a small scrum of reporters in the interview pen by the clubhouse.

“That was a 65 today,” a reporter said. “What did it feel like it could have or should have been?”

As Scheffler processed the inquiry, he scratched his neck and shook his head. Then he dropped the hammer.

“That’s just a terrible question,” he said. “Next question. Awful.”

It wasn’t a terrible question. Minutes earlier, in an interview with CBS Sports reporter Amanda Balionis, Scheffler himself had said he had “left a few shots out there.” And he had. For one, for the third straight round he’d failed to birdie either of the back-nine par-5s. Scheffler also acknowledged as much later in the session with reporters when he said of his round, “it definitely could have been lower.”

But this is this thing with Scheffler. He can be thoughtful and introspective; he can be fun and goofy; but he also can be bracingly direct and even a bit dismissive. If a media member’s query is not to his liking, he’ll say so. At the BMW Championship last year, after months of sharing his opinions about the Ryder Cup in the lead-up to the event, Scheffler told a reporter: “I love answering questions about the Ryder Cup, but this is ridiculous. We’re at the BMW Championship.” A couple of months later, after the third round of the Hero World Challenge, Scheffler fielded a question about a couple of loose tee shots he’d hit earlier in the event. “So you’re asking me about two drives I’ve hit in the last three days?” Scheffler said. “Next question. That’s ridiculous.”

And that was before questions and analyses started coming about his decline in form. When Scheffler, after opening his 2026 season with a win and two top-five finishes, finished — gasp! — outside the top 10 at Riviera and Bay Hill and then opened with a ho-hum 72 at the Players Championship last month, Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee said, “I don’t even recognize this golf swing from Scottie Scheffler. It’s a foot and a half shorter than it was last year and the face is wide open.”

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Cameron Young, wearing a white cap and striped shirt, holds a putter on the golf course during the Masters, with a blurred crowd in the background.

Scheffler, you could sense, wasn’t wild about the armchair autopsies. When early in the week at the Players a reporter teed up a question to Scheffler with the phrase “this season probably hasn’t gone as well as you would like,” Scheffler called the question “funny,” and he didn’t mean in the ha-ha sense.

This isn’t a critique of Scheffler, merely an observation. On Saturday, he was objectively edgy. When asked how he would describe the color of Augusta’s notably browning greens, he said, “Grass.” He added with a smile, “I already ripped on one question that wasn’t that bad, so I’m not going to rip on another one.” Scheffler, it should be noted, is generally for more expansive with his answers than he is short or judgmental. He was unfairly curt on Saturday, but maybe he was just tired or irritated that he’d pushed a seven-footer for birdie on 17 or had to punch out of the left pine straw on 18. When another reporter asked Scheffler whether he thought he’d be able to play with the same aggressiveness in the fourth round that he had in the third round, the world No. 1 provided great insight.

“It depends on what the leadership here wants to do,” he said. “It was crazy firm Thursday afternoon when we were coming in. There were virtually no birdie opportunities. If you look at the scores from late in the day on Thursday, there were not many birdies made in fairly similar conditions. A little less wind, and the greens were fairly soft yesterday, so you saw a lot of scoring late in the day. Then today there was a little bit of opportunity early. You saw my front nine. There was definitely some opportunity going out. Not much wind. Softer greens, but they firmed up a little quicker. It really depends on what they decide to do with the greens.

“If they want to see some lower scores, they can make them softer if they want. I mean, they’re already pretty firm, so they can just go full Bay Hill and just let them die. It’s Augusta. They’ll figure it out.”

Win or lose on Sunday, Scheffler will face yet more questions. Here’s hoping his answers are all as generous and nuanced as that one.

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