While Rory McIlroy found his second green jacket at the 2026 Masters, Scottie Scheffler found himself

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A moment from Scottie Scheffler's post-round interview went viral this weekend at the Masters. A member of the media more or less asked the world No. 1 if he felt like his bogey-free 65 on Saturday was a fair score given how he played. Scheffler scoffed at the inquisition -- and that's putting it nicely -- and continued to field questions ultimately answering the initial one in a wrap around manner.

Scheffler's edge has not abandoned him during this "down" period of the last month, but parts of his game have. He experienced three straight slow starts across the WM Phoenix Open, AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and Genesis Invitational. His iron play lagged considerably compared to previous seasons as he entered the Masters outside the top 80 in strokes gained approach on the PGA Tour.

He arrived at the Masters with three straight finishes outside the top 10 -- T12, T24, T22 -- something he had not done since the late portion of the 2022 (!) season. The incredibly high bar he had cleared these last four seasons was now posing a problem for the four-time major champion -- it was all anyone could talk about.

Because of this, some -- not all -- questioned his chances to win his third career green jacket in just a five-year span. The volume was turned up on this when he started the weekend at even par and 12 strokes off the pace set by Rory McIlroy. What was not mentioned, however, was that he was only six strokes behind those in second place. McIlroy's performance through 36 holes was the outlier, but it was not treated as such when discussing Scheffler.

[2026 Masters takeaways: Scottie Scheffler gets his groove back, Cameron Young proves he's next in line

Robby Kalland

Again, those pesky standards.

Even though, McIlroy was the one who slipped on the green jacket by week's end, Scheffler may have won something else -- quiet from an otherwise noisy outside world. He became the first player since 1942, and perhaps the first person in the history of the tournament as records do not extend that far back, to play the weekend at Augusta National in bogey-free fashion.

He made up seven strokes on McIlroy on Saturday and another four on Sunday. The alternate reality in which Scheffler wins his third green jacket is not a universe away. It's one or maybe two stokes. This is not to diminish McIlroy's accomplishment -- that is the last thing in mind -- but to show rather how close Scheffler was, more than just the one stroke on the final leaderboard.

Where he could have made up a couple shots is staring everyone in the face, Scheffler included.

He played the par 5s on the second nine -- Nos. 13 and 15 -- in 1-over par for the tournament. Before his birdie on No. 15 on Sunday, where ironically he was the most out of position he had been all week to card a par breaker on one of those holes, Scheffler had been without a circle on those two holes all week.

From the fairway on Friday, he found the water with both of his approach shots leading to a pair of bogeys. Two bogeys, one birdie and five pars. McIlroy, meanwhile, played his eight combined attempts at those holes in 6 under -- six birdies and two pars.

His birdie attempt on No. 17 in the final round that went begging has caught fire on the internet with captions of, "We were this close to a playoff between McIlroy and Scheffler," but I don't buy into that nonsense. Butterfly effects, tournament cadences, different mental states and environments -- we don't know how that tournament plays out.

But we may know how the rest of this year will.

Just a couple days removed from suggestions that he may no longer be the best player in the world (those takes are out there, believe me), Scheffler seemed to have silenced any doubters, at least for the time being. He gained nearly 5.50 strokes on approach in Round 3 and another four on the field in Round 4. His scrambling was sublime as it kept him in this tournament when his iron play was occasionally scratchy.

The complete game that Scheffler possesses and everyone knows he possesses (and seems to forget about at the first sign of trouble) was put on full display. Hopefully, it served as a reminder to take long-term views at a busy, week-to-week sport that is always on the move.

McIlroy won this bout. He dealt with questions of his own -- how could one come back from squandering a six-stroke lead? He answered with the heart of a champion and without his best stuff at times. He dealt with missed opportunities like Scheffler as well.

Every player in this field and every golfer in the world can shave a few strokes off their round when going back through it in their head afterwards.

But none of us are Scottie Scheffler, and if there is still juice left to be squeezed, he'll find a way to get those final few drops next time.