Masters: Scheffler closing on first Major but late blip gives Smith and Co hope

IT’S supposed to be tough to grind out your first Major.

Even if it’s yours to lose at the half-way stage.

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And even the world number one is not impervious to the gremlins when the heat is on.

For 11 holes at Augusta yesterday, Scottie Scheffler was in dreamland.

Four birdies and a single dropped shot had him six clear of the field at one point, with the only threat coming from Aussie Cameron Smith.

But Amen Corner helped give the rest of the field a prayer, as Scheffler hit the front bunker and then went through the back of the green.

And from a position of seemingly total strength, the wheels started to come off.

Scheffler did, briefly, steady the ship with a birdie at 13.

Yet the certainty disappeared as tension gripped.

Dropped shots at 14 and 15 – thanks to three putts from the back of the green – saw the lead down to three, up to four after a birdie at 17.

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But a horror pull off the last tee forced Scheffler to scramble through the branches to even find his ball before taking a penalty drop.

His third, from 237 yards out, somehow went through the back, remarkable in the circumstances, with the chip back bringing a one-putt bogey.

It means his lead is down to just three shots with 18 holes to go.

The Queenslander with the mullet and love of “beer and fishing” strikes a contrast with Scheffler, the latest in the list of faceless, boy’s own college graduates to come to prominence.

Yet a lack of obvious charisma does not mean an absence of talent.

Friday’s brilliant four under par back nine of 32 had propelled Scheffler into a runaway five shot lead.

Only once in the 88-year history of the event – way back in 1936 – has a five-stroke 36-hole leader not gone on to wear the Green Jacket.

Scheffler is determined not to change that statistic.

A perfect chip from the right side of the first settled any wobbles, especially when Scheffler followed it up with back to back birdies at two and three.

Even when his only mistake of the first nine, going the par three fourth, was duly punished with a dropped shot, there was no sense of panic.

Then again, it is in keeping with Scheffler’s character.  

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While best mate and Augusta house-mate Sam Burns says Scheffler is a “goofball”, there is a deadly serious glint in the eye of the 25-year-old adopted Texan.

That has accompanied his rapid rise through the rankings, sufficient to first earn him a place in last year’s Ryder Cup romp and then, on the back of three wins already this year, to topple Jon Rahm from top spot in the world list.

More personally, perhaps more crucially too, is the bond he retains with the family of childhood pal James Ragan, whose death from a rare form of bone cancer at the age of just 20 helped shape his sense of purpose.

Scheffler met up with Ragan’s parents on Tuesday, to celebrate their relationship as the 42-day elevation from his first PGA Tour win to the global summit.

Ragan’s sister Mecklin recalled how she had told Scheffler: “James would have been so proud of him – and asked him what took him so long?

“What James respected so much about Scottie was that he saw someone who had an incredible talent and wasn’t wasting it.”

Back at Augusta National, Scheffler was not wasting this opportunity.

He rolled in from 17 feet on six before emerging from the fairway bunker on eight to hole out for his fourth birdie of the front nine.

Even when playing partner Charl Schwartzel holed out from 136 yards for an eagle on the 10th, the ball spinning back into the cup, Scheffler made a vital up and down from short and left of the target. 

In front of him, Smith was charging, four under for his round after a deft chip on 13.

After missing the chance to extend his lead on 11, the ball having a look before deciding to stay above ground, came the mistake on 12, leading to three more.

We might have a contest.