Ornery Scottie Scheffler Spells Trouble at 2026 Masters

After two days of mediocre golf — at least by his standards — Scottie Scheffler came to life on Saturday, shooting the lowest round of his Masters career with a 7-under 65 to roar back into the tournament. For the first time this season, he looked like the player who dominated last year with his iron play, firing lasers at pins and getting up-and-down when he was out of position. He was so good in stretches that his 65 felt like it could have been two or three shots lower.

Scheffler’s competitive intensity also appeared to reemerge. He conceded in his TV interview with Amanda Balionis that he’d gotten a couple bad breaks on the two par 5s, a mudball on 13, and a gust of wind on 15. “On the back nine, I felt I did a lot of really good things and felt like I didn’t get the reward for it,” Scheffler said.

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But when he met with the media 10 minutes later, he did not appreciate being asked how much lower it could have been.

“That’s just a terrible question,” Scheffler said. “Next question. Awful.”

When Scheffler is ornery, it often means he’s in the heat of contention. He can occasionally get pithy with the media, but almost always immediately walks it back with a chuckle and a smile. That was the case on Saturday. As he went through a description of his round, he conceded that, okay, maybe it wasn’t such a bad question after all. He did leave some shots out there.

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He didn’t make a single bogey, he eagled the second hole, he made birdies at Nos. 7, 8, 9, 11, and 16, but he missed two short birdie putts on 10 and 17, and he failed to birdie either par 5 on the second nine. He hit two great drives on the 13th and 15th holes, but walked away with par on both.

“I guess to answer your question — it wasn't maybe that bad — it definitely could have been lower,” Scheffler said.

Is Scheffler truly in the mix for a third green jacket? He thinks so. McIlroy’s sloppy third round brought a lot of people back into contention.

“I don’t feel like I’m out of the tournament,” Scheffler said.