Nick Rodger on Tuesday
Masters win like child’s play for Augusta’s man of the house Scheffler
WHATEVER it is you do in life, you can guarantee that some expert, guru, sage, swami or downright crackpot has written a smug, self- help book telling you how you should be doing it.
Saying that, I’ve still not found one that tells me how I should write a column, although I regularly receive correspondence from readers outlining a number of valid reasons why I shouldn’t be writing one in the first place.
Anyway, when I became a faither a few years ago, a couple of folk who had already had bairns handed over a variety of dog- eared manuals and step- by- step guides that contained an exhausting, fingerwagging list of dos, don’ts and certainly nots about raising a kiddywink. I mean, what kind of idiot did they take me for?
“They’d obviously read your column,” sighed the sports editor as he pored over my latest offering with as much zeal as a man leafing through the Protect and Survive pamphlet that told you what to do in the event of a nuclear attack.
Perhaps I should donate these unread publications to Mr and Mrs Scottie Scheffler? And I’m meaning the child- rearing guides here, not a collection of Tuesday columns.
“I think we are definitely underprepared to be parents,” admitted the Masters champion, whose heavily pregnant wife, Meredith, could give birth by the time you’ve reached the bottom of this page.
Scheffler’s Augusta majesty underlined his current dominance of the men’s game. In the end, it was a procession to a coronation.
There was a point at the turn when we thought we were in for a thrilling four- way fight to the finish as things got tight at the top. The back nine, however, turned into a lap of honour for calm, composed Scheffler.
Anti- climactic? Of course it was, but that should take nothing away from the brilliance of the 27- yearthe old’s display of poise, patience, precision and purpose.
His rivals can only hope that becoming a dad has some kind of impact as Scheffler’s priorities change. But don’t bet on that.
The world No. 1, who draws great strength, clarity and perspective from his Christian faith, is a born winner but he already knows where golf sits in the grand scheme of his life.
It may be his passion and his profession, but it doesn’t consume him. In this fickle, mind- mangling game, perhaps that’s one of his greatest attributes.
The Masters may be done and dusted for another year but the majors are coming thick and fast. This week, the first big one on the women’s circuit takes centre stage as Chevron Championship gets underway in Texas.
Scheffler may have the men’s game in a double nelson after three wins in his last four starts but Nelly Korda’s grip on the women’s scene is so strong, the LPGA Tour must feel like it’s being held in a vice that’s operated by a bloomin’ boa constrictor.
Korda, after all, has won her last four events during a sizzling period of plunder not seen since the great Lorena Ochoa reeled off a quartet of successive triumphs in 2008.
The Chevron Championship is one of five majors on the women’s calendar. But what about shoehorning in another? And what about a Women’s Masters at Augusta?
Back in 2019, when this hitherto bastion of all- male exclusivity launched its Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship, it was greeted as the greatest thing to happen to the fairer sex since the invention of Eve.
The fact that only the final round of the 54- hole event would be played on the hallowed stretch of golfing terrain was glossed over by the usual torrent of doe- eyed, obsequious reactions which tends to be the way with everything Augusta National does.
Ok, so it was progress that a club like Augusta, which admitted its first female members just 12 years ago, finally acknowledged women’s golf but, five years on from the launch of their amateur championship, it would be far better if the entire tournament was held on the storied Masters venue.
One round for the select few who make the cut the opening 36- holes are played at the Champions Retreat course about 15 miles away from Augusta National - still seems like a perfunctory gesture.
Better still, a Women’s Masters for the leading lights on the professional stage would thrust the female game into a different stratosphere. Both the R& A and the USGA have made significant statements of intent in recent years by rapidly elevating the AIG Women’s Open and the US Women’s Open into multi- milliondollar showpieces, in partnership with committed financial backers.
Imagine the impact a Women’s Masters would have? In a stroke, it would become the biggest event in women’s golf, and quite possibly women’s sport, such is the iconic stature of Augusta National.
In terms of growing the game yes, it’s a terribly trite phrase but I’m using it anyway a Women’s Masters would bring exposure like nothing else. There would be significant financial benefits too. Sponsors would be desperate to get involved. And, let’s face it, Augusta National ain’t short of a bob or two either. Last week, merchandise sales alone were estimated at $ 70 million.
Saying all this, however, a Women’s Masters still remains something of a pipe dream. Then again, if the last couple of turbulent years in golf have taught us anything, it’s to never say never.
His rivals can only hope that becoming a dad has some kind of impact as Scheffler’s priorities change