Scottie Scheffler came very close to winning the 2026 Masters. He finished second, just one shot behind Rory McIlroy. What made this result stand out was how he fought back. After two rounds, he was 12 shots behind. By Sunday, he had given himself a real chance to win. One putt on the 17th hole could have forced a playoff.But after the round, Scottie Scheffler did not just talk about that missed putt. He pointed to something else. He said he was “a bit surprised” by how the greens were changed between Thursday and Friday. His words were calm, not emotional. He was simply explaining what, in his view, made the biggest difference.
Scottie Scheffler explains how Augusta National’s green changes affected his Masters run
Scottie Scheffler started his Masters on Thursday afternoon. The course was firm and fast. Players said it was one of the toughest setups in years. He handled it well and shot two-under 70. That score kept him close to the lead.Then things changed overnight. By Friday morning, the greens were softer and slower. That made scoring easier. But Scheffler, who played early, could not adjust in time. He finished with a two-over 74. He later said, “I’d say Friday probably hurt the most in terms of my chances of winning.”He added, “We went out on Thursday afternoon in some of the most challenging conditions we had all week. Going out on Friday, whatever they did to the greens to soften them up, they did some stuff, and I just wasn’t able to take advantage.”While he struggled, players in the later wave took full advantage. Rory McIlroy made a run with multiple birdies. Others also scored low. That shift pushed Scheffler far down the leaderboard. By the end of Friday, he was 12 shots behind.Still, his weekend was special.On Saturday, he shot 65 with no bogeys. On Sunday, he stayed bogey-free again and shot 68. Across the final 36 holes, he did not drop a single shot. That had not happened at Augusta National since 1942. He made nine birdies and one eagle over those two rounds.Even then, it came down to one moment. On the 17th hole, his putt stopped right at the edge. “The putt on 17 I thought I made,” he said. If it had dropped, the tournament could have gone to a playoff.Scheffler admitted he could have done better earlier. But his point was clear. The way conditions changed between rounds made a real impact. In a tournament decided by one shot, even small decisions matter.