Scottie Scheffler hit Augusta National. And then a reporter’s question

AUGUSTA, Ga. Scottie Scheffler had an unforgettable Saturday in Augusta National. He bogeyed the par-5 second, made five birdies and no bogeys and signed for his lowest ever Masters round, a sublime seven-under 65 that put him in contention in this 90th tournament match; at the end of the day he was seven under for the week, just four behind Rory McIlroy and Cameron Young. It wouldn’t surprise anyone if Scheffler shoots another 65 Sunday and slips to his third green jacket in five years.

When Scheffler tried to go about his duties after the third round on what was a warm, balmy day at Augusta, he met a small group of reporters in the interview pen near the clubhouse.

“He was 65 years old today,” said one reporter. “What could or should it feel like?”

As Scheffler processed the inquiry, he scratched his neck and shook his head. Then he dropped the hammer.

“That’s just a terrible question,” he said. “Next question. Terrible.”

it it wasn’t a terrible question. A few minutes earlier, in an interview with CBS Sports reporter Amanda Balionis, Scheffler himself had said that he “left some shots there.” And he had. For one, for the third straight round, he didn’t make any of the nine par-5s. Scheffler also conceded much later in the session with reporters when he said of his round, “it definitely could have been lower.”

But that’s the thing with Scheffler. He can be thoughtful and introspective; he can be fun and silly; but he can also be direct and even a little dismissive. If he doesn’t like a member of the media’s question, he’ll say so. At the BMW Championship last year, months after sharing his thoughts on the Ryder Cup at the start of the event, Scheffler told a reporter: “I love answering questions about the Ryder Cup, but this is ridiculous. We’re at the BMW Championship.” A couple of months later, after the third round of the World Hero Challenge, Scheffler asked a question about some easy shots he had hit earlier in the event. “So you’re asking me about the two cars I hit in the last three days?” Scheffler said. “Next question. This is ridiculous.”

And that was it ahead Questions and analysis began to come in about his decline in form. When Scheffler, after opening his 2026 season with a win and two top-five finishes, finished — gasp! — off the top 10 at Riviera and Bay Hill and then opened with a ho-hum 72 at The Players Championship last month, the Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee said“I don’t even recognize this golf swing from Scottie Scheffler. It’s a foot and a half shorter than last year and the face is completely open.”

Scheffler, you can tell, wasn’t wild about armchair autopsies. When a reporter asked Scheffler earlier in the week on The Players that “this season probably hasn’t gone as well as you’d like it to,” Scheffler called the question “ridiculous,” and he didn’t mean it in the ha-ha sense.

This is not a criticism of Scheffler, just an observation. On Saturday, he was objectively nervous. When asked how he would describe the color of Augusta’s particularly black greens, he said, “Grass.” He added with a smile, “I already cracked a question that wasn’t that bad, so I won’t ask another one.” Scheffler, it should be noted, is generally more extensive with his answers than he is brief or judgmental. He was unfairly cut Saturday, but maybe he was just tired or irritated that he had pushed a seven-footer for birdie at 17 or had to punch out of the left pine at 18. When another reporter asked Scheffler if he thought he would be able to play with the same aggressiveness.

“It depends on what the leadership here wants to do,” he said. “It was crazy Thursday afternoon when we were going in. There were virtually no birdies. If you look at the results from late Thursday, there weren’t a lot of birdies made in pretty similar conditions. A little less wind and the greens were pretty soft yesterday, so you saw a lot of putts late in the day. Then today I had a little chance to get out early. Softer greens, but they firm up a little faster. It depends on what they putt. to do with greens.

“If they want to see some lower scores, they can make them softer if they want to. I mean, they’re already strong enough, so they can just go full Bay Hill and just let them die. It’s Augusta. They’ll figure it out.”

Win or lose Sunday, Scheffler will face more questions. Here’s hoping his answers are all as generous and nuanced as hers.