AUGUSTA, Ga. — Scottie Scheffler conjured a second of brilliance on the fifteenth gap and almost re-created a traditional Masters second on No. 17. He performed the ultimate two rounds with no single bogey.

It wasn’t fairly sufficient.

Scheffler shot a 4-under 68 on Sunday at Augusta Nationwide and completed one stroke behind winner Rory McIlroy. Now McIlroy and Scheffler are even with two Masters titles every. Scheffler was attempting to tug off what would have been an unprecedented comeback from 12 strokes down after 36 holes.

“I at all times felt like I used to be a pair photographs out of it, however I used to be forward of these guys (on the course), so I felt like if I might make a number of birdies and publish a rating I’d be in a great spot,” Scheffler stated. “Simply wasn’t in a position to make sufficient birdies on the again.”

Scheffler shot a 65 on Saturday to tug inside 4, and he was within the combine throughout the last spherical, turning into the primary participant since World Battle II to play the final two rounds of the Masters with no bogey.

What he wanted, nonetheless, was a minimum of yet one more birdie. After making one on No. 1 and one other on No. 3, a streak of 11 straight pars stalled his progress at a time when he was very a lot inside hanging distance.

On the par-5 fifteenth, his tee shot went to the precise into the bushes, and his second shot caromed off one in all them, leaving him nonetheless 189 yards out. He had a spot between two tree trunks however wanted to clear water to achieve the inexperienced.

He by some means pulled that off and rolled within the putt for a birdie to maneuver to 10 below. Drawback was, at across the similar second, McIlroy birdied No. 13 to go to 13 below. Then Scheffler answered with a birdie on the par-3 sixteenth to tug inside two.

And that is the place it stayed till the 18th, when McIlroy’s bogey was sufficient to win him the match.

Scheffler’s final good likelihood to use stress on McIlroy got here when he stood over an 18-foot putt for birdie on No. 17. It was an identical putt to the one Jack Nicklaus made on his technique to a sixth Masters title 40 years in the past.

For Scheffler, the putt stayed simply to the left of the outlet.

“The putt I hit on 17 I actually thought I made,” he stated. “The shot into 18 I hit it precisely how I needed to. I believe we simply misplaced the wind, and it acquired proper as much as the sting and got here all the way in which again down. Would’ve been good to offer myself a possibility there on 18, however I at all times discuss how I attempt to be targeted on controlling the issues that I can management and yesterday and at this time was a few of the finest that I’ve felt like I’ve been mentally all yr.”

There have been different missed alternatives. The par-4 seventh was yielding birdies left and proper — and even a few eagles — on Sunday. However after an errant tee shot, Scheffler’s method missed the inexperienced to the left.

He went over the inexperienced from 95 yards on the par-5 eighth, costing himself one other good birdie likelihood.

Scheffler’s son Remy was born late final month, and he hadn’t performed since The Gamers Championship in the course of March. This was his first top-five end since Pebble Seaside in mid-February.

Scheffler has received 4 main titles and now has three runner-up finishes. He tied for second on the 2022 U.S. Open and 2023 PGA Championship. This time he ended up alone in second, proving to be the most important risk to McIlroy on a crowded leaderboard.

Scheffler and McIlroy have received 4 of the final 5 majors, with McIlroy profitable the 2025 and 2026 Masters and Scheffler taking the PGA Championship and British Open final yr. They’re ranked 1-2 on the earth, making this the primary main for the reason that 2002 U.S. Open (Tiger Woods over Phil Mickelson) through which the highest two gamers within the rating have been the highest two finishers in some order.

Scheffler in the end put himself in too huge of a gap when he shot 70 within the first spherical and 74 within the second. And he did not make the most of the 2 par 5s on the again 9 — Nos. 13 and 15. His exceptional up-and-down on the fifteenth gap Sunday was his solely birdie on both of these holes, and he bogeyed each Friday.

McIlroy, in the meantime, performed these holes in 6 below over the 4 days. And he had the fortitude to win Sunday after he misplaced a six-stroke lead Saturday.

“I’ve competed in opposition to him for a very long time, and also you don’t win the quantity of tournaments that he’s received out right here with out being fairly resilient,” Scheffler stated. “Having a six-shot lead at Augusta isn’t simple, and shedding that’s clearly one thing tough. However on the finish of the day whenever you tee it up right here on Sunday, he’s tied for the result in begin the day and had a strong spherical and did what he wanted to do.”

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf