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AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Just a couple of weeks ago, Scottie Scheffler thought his game was not quite as sharp as he would have wanted it.
“Sharp” might be a poor word choice given what happened in December.
In any case, Scheffler's game looked — How should we say it? — nicely honed in the opening round of the Masters on Thursday, when the defending champion shot a bogey-free 68 to put himself squarely in the mix. Sheffler made two long birdie putts and a couple of nice saves from bunkers on an Augusta National course that was ripe for some red numbers.
“I don't really care what happened in the last few tournaments,” said Scheffler, who arrived this week winless for the first time since 2021. “Any time you get close to the lead, it’s going to be easier for you to win the golf tournament. That’s a simple fact of the matter. You get off to a good start, statistically you’re going to have a better chance to win.”
His good start began at the par-5 second, when Scheffler got up-and-down for birdie from 40 yards out. But it really brightened at the par-3 fourth, when he rolled in a putt from 62 feet across a green that slopes dramatically from back to front.
Scheffler added another birdie at the par-5 eighth, then rolled in a 42-footer for birdie at No. 16. Throw in a pretty sand save at the next hole, when Scheffler managed to carry his bunker shot all the way to the top-shelf hole location at the back of the green, and the world's top-ranked player was happy to sign for a 4-under round to start his tournament.
He is only the fourth defending Masters champion to open with a bogey-free round in the last three decades.
“Any time you can keep a card clean out here," Scheffler said, “it's a really good thing.”
Even though he has yet to win this season, Scheffler believes things have been trending in the right direction. He shot a final-round 63 to finish second to Min Woo Lee at the Houston Open, and he was able to get some solid work in this past week, when he skipped the Texas Open in favor of a little extra preparation for the Masters.
He hasn't had any problem with his hand, either. Scheffler cut it badly in December, when he was trying to make ravioli using a wine glass during the holidays and it broke. The injury forced Scheffler to delay the start of his season, and it may be one of the reasons why he merely has three top-10 finishes and no wins by the time he drove up Magnolia Lane.
History has proven that a good start is important at Augusta National.
This is the fourth consecutive year that Scheffler has opened with a round in the 60s. In 2022, he backed it up with a second-round 67 en route to his first green jacket, and he used his opening 66 last year to catapult him to his second one.
Perhaps this one will help the 28-year-old become the youngest with three green jackets since Jack Nicklaus in 1966.
“I struggled for what felt like two pars today. I had to make two really good up-and-downs,” Scheffler said. “But other than that, the golf course was in front of me most of the day, kept the ball in play, did a lot of really good things out there.”
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
