Scottie Scheffler rewarded a fan with his glove after hitting his ball into a stand adjacent to the 15th green on Saturday. It comes after a rather interesting Champions Dinner for some.
The two-time winner and reigning champion at the Masters has struggled to keep up with the pace set by Rory McIlroy but still remains somewhat in the hunt heading into Sunday. A subdued level par round on Saturday was uncharacteristic of Scheffler, with many Masters patrons waiting for him to kick on and charge up the leaderboard.
Scottie Scheffler’s gesture to a fan at the Masters was spotted
His third round was arguably summed up by what happened on the 15th hole. A decent drive was slightly pulled and, although it found the fairway, it didn’t give him much room to attack the green. There is a large area of trees that jets into the fairway and Scheffler had to find his way around it.
Attempting a draw, Scheffler overhit and pushed his approach long and right. There was commotion in the stand next to the green as the ball crashed into them. Thankfully no one seemed hurt. If anything, the crowd were lapping up the extra camera attention every time it panned to them.
And if there was any bad blood between the patrons and Scheffler it didn’t show. The American still got an applause as he approached the stand. In a show of goodwill, Scheffler took off his glove and gave it to a patron which naturally received a rippling clap from those nearby.
Chipping near the stand, Scheffler dusted himself down and stuck it to six feet. While he was waiting for his putt, partner Tyrrell Hatton chipped in for birdie prompting the 28-year-old to give a thumbs up to the LIV Golf star.
Scottie Scheffler endured an up and down day at the Masters
Scheffler then drained his putt and walked away with a birdie. The patches of inconsistency with flashes of quality have epitomized his Masters this year. And it’s something he admitted as much to after his round.
“At times I felt good, at times I felt bad,” he said back at the clubhouse. “I just couldn’t really get anything going. I think I ended up with even, which felt like I had to scramble a lot today, actually. I got off to a good start today, but after that I didn’t really feel like I gave myself enough opportunities, and the opportunities that I did have, I didn’t really quite take advantage of.”
Asked if he plans to gamble more on the Sunday to chase down the leaders, he said: “You know, there is a school of thought when it comes to that, but when I think about last year, I had two big comebacks, one at The Players and one at the Olympics. Did I press or force things? Did I play more aggressive? Not really.
“I just gave myself the most amount of opportunities and I hit a lot of good shots and was able to hole some putts. Going into tomorrow, like I said, I’m going to go hit a few balls tonight, see if I can get a good feel going into tomorrow, and then you never know.”
