Scottie Scheffler would love to have second emotional Masters moment

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Masters leaders are not supposed to cry on Sunday morning.

They are supposed to jump out of bed, stare down the weight of expectation and practice putting on a green jacket.

That is what people who expect to win major championships do.

But wouldn’t you know it, on the morning of April 10, 2022, Scottie Scheffler wasn’t sure he was worthy of winning a major championship.

Even though the New Jersey-born Scheffler had nailed down his first three PGA Tour victories over the previous two months, those tournaments didn’t measure up to the Masters. They didn’t measure up to golf’s Super Bowl.

So the 25-year-old man in the lead cried like a newborn baby.

“I was so stressed out,” he would say that night. “I didn’t know what to do.”

Scheffler figured it out that day at Augusta National and, as defending champ, booked himself a role as host of Tuesday night’s Champions Dinner.

He expected to get emotional again, just as he got emotional for last year’s dinner after his three-shot victory over Rory McIlroy.

“I still can’t believe I’ll be sitting in that room, and so it will be fun,” Scheffler said Tuesday. “It will be special.”

Just as special as his first drive this week down Magnolia Lane.

Scheffler had played Augusta National with his father, Scott, after the Players Championship, but decided to get in early Sunday to play another 18 holes with his sister.

“I tried to get a little bit of the memories and stuff from last year out of the way as early as I could,” Scheffler said.

“When you see the list of guys when they get in the tournament and how they qualify and you see ‘lifetime exemption’ by your name, I think is really cool. … And the drive down Magnolia Lane definitely never gets old.”

Scheffler, the world’s top-ranked player, is hoping to become the first back-to-back winner of the Masters since Tiger Woods in 2001 and 2002.

Scheffler, the world’s top-ranked player, hasn’t changed much since last year’s breakthrough — he still lives in the same Dallas house and still drives his white, 2012 Yukon with about 190,000 miles on it, most of them logged by his dad — who bought it at a bygone Masters after his car broke down.

His only major indulgence as a major champ?

“I would say I bought a cold tub,” Scheffler said. “That was a pretty big indulgence.”

Maybe he will buy himself something bigger and better after a second Masters victory.

Is it possible he will cry again Sunday morning in pursuit of a two-peat?

“I don’t know what the emotions will be,” Scheffler said. “But hopefully I find out and I’ll let you know.”