AUGUSTA, Ga. – Scottie Scheffler “cried like a baby,” just hours before his victory at the 86th Masters.
Scheffler — the picture of calm, cool and collected was anything — but in the hours leading to the final round at Augusta National Golf Club. Scheffler held a three-stroke lead heading into the final round, but had a lot of time to kill before his 2:50 p.m. ET tee time in the final group.
“Last night was pretty easy. I was tired. We went and got some food. I spilled my dinner in the car on the way home, and that was extraordinarily frustrating,” said Scheffler, noting that his wife, Meredith was still laughing about it in the back of the auditorium where her husband was conducting his winner’s press conference. “She thought it was the funniest thing ever; I didn’t think it was so funny at the time.”
This morning, Scheffler said, was a totally different story.
“I cried like a baby this morning. I was so stressed out. I didn’t know what to do. I was sitting there telling Meredith, ‘I don’t think I’m ready for this. I’m not ready, I don’t feel like I’m ready for this kind of stuff, and I just felt overwhelmed,’ ” Scheffler recounted. “She told me, ‘Who are you to say that you are not ready? Who am I to say that I know what’s best for my life?’ And so what we talked about is that God is in control and that the Lord is leading me; and if today is my time, it’s my time. And if I shot 82 today, you know, somehow I was going to use it for His glory. Gosh, it was a long morning. It was long.”
Scheffler said it was the first time he’s ever responded emotionally.
“It’s definitely different with it being a lead and different being a major, especially the Masters. This golf course and this tournament is just different. I think because it’s the Masters. I dreamed of having a chance to play in this golf tournament. I teared up the first time I got my invitation in the mail. We were fortunate enough to play here in college, and I love this place. I love this golf course.
“If you’re going to choose a golf tournament to win, this would be the tournament I would want to win. You don’t know how many chances you’re going to get. And so having a chance, you know, I think I had a five-shot lead on Friday and then a three-shot lead going into today, I don’t know if you get better opportunities than that. You don’t want to waste them. The human condition is to make things bigger than they really are. And years from now I would say people may not remember me as a champion, and that’s fine. But in the moment, you think it’s a lot bigger deal than it really is.”
How did Scheffler settle down?
“I think when (Meredith) made me some more food, had a big breakfast. My stomach has been hurting for two days straight. I would say I calmed down when I got to the course. Right when I got to the training room and started working with (my trainer), I was pretty calm,” he said.
At the end of Scheffler’s Green Jacket ceremony, CBS’s Jim Nantz noted, “There was emotion in there after all. He just has a great way of hiding it, doesn’t he?”
Indeed, he does. Who knew he had been suffering from stomach pains and crying uncontrollably in the lead up to the final round of the Masters.
“Maybe I should play more poker or something,” he joked. “Truly I felt peace when I’m on the golf course. I think the hardest stuff is off golf course. When I’m out there and once we get into the round, pretty much after parring the first hole I was settled in. I felt good.”
