Scottie Scheffler fell back at Augusta National with a 74 in Round 2, but the world No. 1 is still around for the weekend at even par.
Scottie Scheffler at the Masters took an unexpected turn Friday, as the world No. 1 couldn’t keep his usual Augusta momentum going in the second round.
After opening with a solid 2-under 70, Scheffler followed it with a 2-over 74, leaving him at even par through 36 holes and well off the early pace heading into the weekend.
That score doesn’t knock Scheffler out of the tournament, but it does change the feel of his week.
For a player who has made Augusta National look unusually manageable over the last few years, Friday was a reminder that this course can turn on anyone quickly.
The two-time Masters champion never looked completely out of control, but he also never found the clean rhythm that usually defines his rounds here.
The biggest damage came where players typically expect to gain ground.
Scheffler made costly mistakes on the back nine’s par 5s, including trouble at both No. 13 and No. 15. Those missed opportunities turned what could have been a quiet move up the leaderboard into a round spent giving strokes away.
What made the scorecard more surprising is that Scheffler didn’t sound like a player who felt lost. Quite the opposite, actually.
His ball-striking appeared steady for much of the day, but the scoring never followed. Missed chances around the greens and putts that refused to fall kept the round from ever gaining momentum.
Even so, Scheffler remains a factor simply because of who he is and how well he usually responds.
He’ll make the cut comfortably, and Augusta has seen stranger Saturday charges than one from the top-ranked player in the world.
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He also still has a lot to play for beyond the title chase, including keeping alive his run of high finishes in the season’s first major.
For now, though, the story is simple. Scheffler arrived at the Masters looking like one of the safest bets on the board. Two rounds in, he suddenly looks human again.
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