Scottie Scheffler falls a stroke short of a record Masters comeback after a flawless weekend

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Scottie Scheffler conjured a moment of brilliance on the 15th hole and nearly re-created a classic Masters moment on No. 17. He played the final two rounds without a single bogey. It wasn't quite enough. Scheffler shot a 4-under 68 on Sunday at Augusta National and finished one stroke behind winner Rory McIlroy. Now McIlroy and Scheffler are even with two Masters titles each. Scheffler was trying to pull off what would have been an unprecedented comeback from 12 strokes down after 36 holes. “I always felt like I was a couple shots out of it, but I was ahead of those guys (on the course), so I felt like if I could make a few birdies and post a score I’d be in a good spot,” Scheffler said. “Just wasn’t able to make enough birdies on the back.” Scheffler shot a 65 on Saturday to pull within four, and he was in the mix during the final round, becoming the first player since World War II to play the last two rounds of the Masters without a bogey. What he needed, however, was at least one more birdie. After making one on No. 1 and another on No. 3, a streak of 11 straight pars stalled his progress at a time when he was very much within striking distance. On the par-5 15th, his tee shot went to the right into the trees, and his second shot caromed off one of them, leaving him still 189 yards out. He had a gap between two tree trunks but needed to clear water to reach the green. He somehow pulled that off and rolled in the putt for a birdie to move to 10 under. Problem was, at around the same moment, McIlroy birdied No. 13 to go to 13 under. Then Scheffler answered with a birdie on the par-3 16th to pull within two. And that's where it stayed until the 18th, when McIlroy's bogey was enough to win him the tournament. Scheffler's last good chance to apply pressure on McIlroy came when he stood over an 18-foot putt for birdie on No. 17. It was a similar putt to the one Jack Nicklaus made on his way to a sixth Masters title 40 years ago. For Scheffler, the putt stayed just to the left of the hole. “The putt I hit on 17 I really thought I made,” he said. “The shot into 18 I hit it exactly how I wanted to. I think we just lost the wind, and it got right up to the edge and came all the way back down. Would’ve been nice to give myself an opportunity there on 18, but I always talk about how I try to be focused on controlling the things that I can control and yesterday and today was some of the best that I’ve felt like I’ve been mentally all year.” There were other missed opportunities. The par-4 seventh was yielding birdies left and right — and even a couple of eagles — on Sunday. But after an errant tee shot, Scheffler's approach missed the green to the left. He went over the green from 95 yards on the par-5 eighth, costing himself another good birdie chance. Scheffler's son Remy was born late last month, and he hadn't played since The Players Championship in the middle of March. This was his first top-five finish since Pebble Beach in mid-February. Scheffler has won four major titles and now has three runner-up finishes. He tied for second at the 2022 U.S. Open and 2023 PGA Championship. This time he ended up alone in second, proving to be the biggest threat to McIlroy on a crowded leaderboard. Scheffler and McIlroy have won four of the last five majors, with McIlroy winning the 2025 and 2026 Masters and Scheffler taking the PGA Championship and British Open last year. They are ranked 1-2 in the world, making this the first major since the 2002 U.S. Open (Tiger Woods over Phil Mickelson) in which the top two players in the ranking were the top two finishers in some order. Scheffler ultimately put himself in too big of a hole when he shot 70 in the first round and 74 in the second. And he didn't take advantage of the two par 5s on the back nine — Nos. 13 and 15. His remarkable up-and-down on the 15th hole Sunday was his only birdie on either of those holes, and he bogeyed both Friday. McIlroy, meanwhile, played those holes in 6 under over the four days. And he had the fortitude to win Sunday after he lost a six-stroke lead Saturday. “I’ve competed against him for a long time, and you don’t win the amount of tournaments that he’s won out here without being pretty resilient,” Scheffler said. “Having a six-shot lead at Augusta is never easy, and losing that is obviously something difficult. But at the end of the day when you tee it up here on Sunday, he’s tied for the lead to start the day and had a solid round and did what he needed to do.” \\\_ AP golf: