Two wins and no finish outside the top-20, it’s easy to see why Augusta National suits Scottie Scheffler’s eye.
Despite making just five appearance at the Masters Tournament, Scheffler has taken Augusta by storm
The world number one rarely gets frazzled and he ranked first in strokes gained tee to green and strokes gained approach to the green on the PGA TOUR this season. Two categories that are always key when the Masters rolls around every April.
The current Masters champion believes the strategic nature required to tackle Augusta National is an element that suits his game and has been a huge factor in his performances.
“I think you just have to really manage your way around the golf course,” Scheffler told the Subpar podcast.
“And there’s certain areas where it gets so challenging on the weekend, like the years I’ve won, it’s been pretty firm and fast, and so controlling it and getting on to those little shelves, you know, controlling the ball going into the greens. And I feel like I’m typically pretty patient on the course. And I think that suited me well around there.”
Scheffler admitted that he enjoys the test of playing against the golf course at Augusta National.
“I think I like the kind of harder test,” he said. “I think those I enjoy those more just because you feel like you’re almost getting in a battle with the golf course.”
Scheffler, who won the first of his two green jackets in 2022, also relishes the challenge of hitting golf shots under pressure at the Masters, believing there is an extra edge to it compared to other tournaments.
“I look at this year, and this was a year where it was really tight going to the back nine and I just hit some key shots kind of where I needed to and played the hard holes well,” he said. “And I mean, on Sundays, you really just gotta hit the shots. That’s really what it comes down to.
“Some years I’ve hit the shots and pulled them off and then other years I haven’t, but I feel like it’s a place where if you manage your way around the golf course well, it just seems like there’s a lot of ways you can play it. You can hit it really good and putt average and be up there on the leader board on the hard years. And then, you can hit it all over the place, and if you’re getting up and down, you play the par 5s well, you’re gonna be right in tournament.
“And so I feel like there’s a lot of different ways to attack the golf course,” he continued. “But at the end of the day, when it comes down to it on Sunday, you just gotta hit the shots. You know, they put the pins in places where if you hit a good shot, you’re gonna score well. But if you miss the shelf, you’re gonna be looking at bogey.”