Can Scottie Scheffler join exclusive Masters club only occupied by Jack Nicklaus?

USA Today

09-04-2025

Can Scottie Scheffler join exclusive Masters club only occupied by Jack Nicklaus?
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Scottie Scheffler says it's tough to choose his best shot at Augusta
Scheffler says he's hit a lot of big shots at Augusta, but one perfectly struck iron in 2022 still stands out.
Despite consistent top performances, Scheffler considers his 2025 season "substandard" by his own high standards.
AUGUSTA, Ga. — A lot has changed for Scottie Scheffler in just three years while going from rising star to the brightest star with all 13 of his PGA Tour wins in his last 66 events, and a solid hold on No. 1 in the world.
But that's on the course.
Two years ago, at the Masters, Scheffler talked about his truck, a 2012 GMC Yukon XL that was purchased by his dad. As the story goes, Scottie and his high school teammates attended the Masters that year and his dad, Scott, drove them from Dallas in the family vehicle. The vehicle broke down in Augusta and Scott purchased the Yukon on the day after the tournament ended for the drive home.
Scottie got the car.
After 12 years, and having earned more than $70 million in prize money (he now is up to more than $75 million), Scottie Scheffler finally upgraded that ride. In December, he auctioned off the trusty Yukon with more than 190,000 miles to raise money for the Triumph Over Kid Cancer Foundation.
The winner of the auction was sportscaster Jim Nantz, who wrote a check for $50,000.
Scheffler now drives around in new white GMC Yukon, one of the few pleasures this unassuming superstar affords himself. Scheffler, who is attempting this week to win his third Masters in four years, is as humble and self-effacing as any athlete at the top of his game.
Think NFL diva wide receiver. Scheffler is the polar opposite.
"I try to live a fairly simple life at home," Scheffler said Tuesday.
And that life was captured perfectly during the first season of the "Full Swing" documentary. While some of his peers were shown lounging by their pools in back of their multimillion-dollar mansions as boats drifted by in the distance, Scheffler and his wife, Meredith, were depicted holding hands, walking along a tree-lined street in their neighborhood.
Sticking to that "fairly simple life" is much easier when you are home and in control. On the course, or away from home, it's much different. Scheffler remains humble but he has obligations to fulfill when it comes to his time. Sponsors wanting a piece of him. Media obligations. Tour requirements.
"On the road, things have changed significantly than where they were three, four years ago when I first came out on Tour," he said. "I used to be able to come out and essentially do whatever I wanted whenever I wanted because I had a bunch of time throughout the day where I could do things, and I never really got worn out because I didn't have any obligations other than showing up and playing golf.
"I could practice for as long as I wanted to, I could waste time and do things a bit differently."
Masters win would put Scheffler in company with Jack Nicklaus
Scheffler's seven Tour wins in 2024 were the most since Tiger Woods' eight titles in 2007. And this week he's chasing more history.
With a win at Augusta, Scheffler would join Jack Nicklaus as the only golfers to win three green jackets in a four-year span. Nicklaus, a North Palm Beach resident, won three of his six Masters in 1963, 1965, 1966.
But in true Scheffler style, you'd have better luck trying to smuggle a cellphone onto the Augusta National grounds than getting him to boast about his achievements.
"I really don't focus a lot on that stuff," he said. "I focus a lot on the preparation and getting ready to play in tournaments.
"I really try not to look too much into the past."
The one time this week he did was to recount the start to his 2025 season, which he's declared substandard.
Scheffler has played six events in 2025. He has three top 10s, and never placed outside the top 25.
Dreadful.
"I haven't had the starts that I would have hoped to start the year," said Scheffler, who missed the first month of the season after requiring stitches to close a cut on his right hand sustained on Christmas Day.
"I've had some good starts, but I haven't had any really great ones yet."
ESPN analyst and former PGA Tour pro Andy North laughs at the lofty standards
"If you took Scottie's record and didn't have a name on it, people would go, 'Oh, my gosh, this guy has had an incredible year,' " North said.
Still, even having been No. 1 in the world 98 consecutive weeks, Scheffler said last month at The Players Championship he does not feel like the best player in the world.
And part of that is reaching those standards he's set since that meteoric rise started three years ago with his first PGA Tour win at the Phoenix Open.
"We all have high expectations, and you put a lot of work into trying to come out here and play good golf," he said. "It's a test of your patience every time you don't hit a shot the way that you feel you should have. I think golf is always a good test of patience."
Perhaps those expectations will be reached by taking home a third green jacket. That would give the three-time defending PGA Tour Player of the Year eight Tour victories, a gold medal at the Paris Olympics and a FedEx Cup title in the past 13 months.
If it happens, preparation will be the key. Scheffler will have played Augusta National twice this week before hitting his first tee shot Thursday at 10:15 a.m., in a group that will include Justin Thomas and 2024 U.S. Amateur champion Jose Luis Ballester.
On Sunday, he had a practice round with his mother, Diane, before playing the front nine Tuesday and back nine Wednesday.
"I talked a lot about my preparation and stepping up on the tee at Pebble and feeling like I wasn't exactly where I was when I ended the year just because I had taken so much time off," Scheffler said about his first event of the year, the Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
"I would say that I feel very prepared for this golf tournament. This is definitely the most prepared that I've felt all year."
Tom D'Angelo is a senior sports columnist and reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at [e-mail].
The 89th Masters
Thursday-Sunday, Augusta National, Augusta, Ga.
TV: Thursday-Friday, 3 p.m., ESPN; Saturday-Sunday, 2 p.m., CBS
Defending champ: Scottie Scheffler