Schauffele was all set up for stunning comeback, then he took on water
He arrived at the clubhouse with no gaping wounds. He was lucid. He even smiled. He said he had survived his head-first lunge into the
Masters Tournament wall.
“It’ll be another thing to put in my memory bank,” Xander
Schauffele said.
After this Masters and the 2019 Masters and the 2017 U.S. Open and the seven runnerup finishes that Schauffele has notched since his last previous PGA Tour win, that bank is becoming too big to fail.
On Sunday he was six feet from stardom, or maybe legend, once again. He was playing with Hideki Matsuyama, who began Sunday with a 4-stroke lead, which really is no more than two swings. But when they
walked off the 11th green, Schauffele trailed Matsuyama by seven.
“He was a robot,” Schauffele said. “For a long time he just never made a mistake.”
Schauffele made enough for both. He made a hash out of the par-4 fifth hole, known as The Hole Nobody Sees because it’s the most remote from the clubhouse. He would prefer not to see it again, because his double-bogey, beginning with a drive into the right trees, made him five-over-par there for the week.
But Schauffele fired back with birdies on 12, 13 and 14 and got within four shots. And when Matsuyama overshot a 4-iron on the par-5 15th and into the pond that decorates the 16th, the most prosaic Masters Sunday in memory seemed likely to become the bloodiest.
Schauffele nearly holed his bunker shot for eagle and made birdie, and Matsuyama did well to make bogey. The lead was two. That’s one swing.
They walked to the 16th hole, where holes-in-one are not rare, and huzzahs over shots that roll down the bowl and near the hole are not quiet, not even with a restricted gallery.
“I was shocked that he went for the green on
15,” Schauffele said. “All I wanted to do on that tee was put a little more pressure on him.”
Instead he cleared the biggest obstacle to Matsuyama’s victory, which was himself.
Schauffele and caddie Austin Kaiser judged the wind to be coming left to right. So they prescribed a draw, which isn’t Schauffele’s favorite shot.
The tee shot hit the bank and rolled into the water.
“I flushed that shot,” he said. “It was a 184-yard eight-iron. We thought it was a down-cut wind and it wasn’t. I’ll sleep well because I hit that shot well. Although I might toss and turn a little bit.”
Had Schauffele pulled out a bogey he would have stayed within two shots with two holes left, because Matsuyama fanned his tee shot to the right and 3-putted.
But Schauffele’s dropzone shot flew into the spectators, and he wound up with triple-bogey six and a four-shot deficit.
That’s an even-par 72 with a double and a triple. On second thought, maybe an Ambien will help.
Matsuyama parred 17 and whistled a beautiful drive on 18, which he called his “best shot of the day.” His caddie, Shota Hiyafuji, clapped softly as the ball cleaved the fairway.
Then Matsuyama sent his approach into a bunker and had to 2-putt to win by one stroke, which was as close as anyone got all day. He had led by six after 11.
Matsuyama thus became the third Japanese pro and the first man to win a major golf championship.
“I remember what it’s like to have a four-stroke lead here,” Jordan Spieth said. “I can’t imagine what it’s like trying to sleep on that, considering he’s got Japan and maybe all of Asia on his back. Whenever I’ve played with him, it’s an absolute stripe show.”
Although Jumbo Ozaki is in the World Golf Hall of Fame, Matsuyama said he had few golf idols. He admired baseball players, like Shohei Ohtani, Yu Darvish and Kenta Maeda. He has been a celebrity back home for at least 11 years, or since he won the Asia Pacific Amateur for the first time, a tournament co-sponsored by Augusta National. Its largest perk is an invitation to the Masters. Matsuyama won the amateur event twice and made the cut at Augusta both times.
“I’m sure a lot of people over there are having a few beers,” Schauffele said.
Schauffele will, too, but not for self-pity. He had earned $21 million in golf currency before this thirdplace finish. He likely will move into the top five in the World Golf Rankings.
All he really needs is an ATM card, for that bank inside his head.