(Augusta) There are a lot of perks associated with being the reigning Masters champion.
You can lug the prestigious green jacket around for a year. You can get a start at Augusta National any way you like. And you can create your own menu for the dinner of champions.
What if you could enjoy it for another year?
Well, this kind of exploit is quite rare.
Each year, the winner of the previous edition is told that only three golfers managed to successfully defend their title at the Masters.
And it’s a pretty intimidating group.
Jack Nicklaus. Nick Faldo. Tiger Woods.
It was no different on Tuesday for Scottie Scheffler, the last player in the running who will try to join this illustrious trio.
The second question — and many more followed — was about the meaning of a second straight victory in Georgia.
“Any time your name is mentioned in the same sentence as Tiger, Jack and Nick Faldo, it’s very special,” Scheffler agreed.
However, he added in the same breath that “it is not, personally, an additional motivating factor”.
Scheffler is aware that it is very difficult to hit two consecutive shots that land in the same spot, and therefore the prospect of the stars aligning again for him at Augusta National — for four more rounds, at that — seems highly unlikely. .
That being said, the 26-year-old Texan is once again one of the favorites — along with Rory McIlroy, according to sports betting site FanDuel Sportsbook — to take the green jacket.
And it is not a hazard.
Scheffler is the #1 golfer in the world. He has already signed two victories this season. He has finished in the top-12 in his last nine tournaments.
No one since Jordan Spieth in 2016 has come to the Masters with such high expectation of successfully defending his title.
Woods, who successfully defended his title between 2001 and 2002, was asked about it.
The reputation of the course, as well as all its peculiarities, was at the top of the list.
“What has allowed some of us to successfully defend our title is the fact that we figured out how to negotiate it,” Woods explained. Scottie knows how to negotiate this course. »