By Frank Pingue
AUGUSTA, Georgia (Reuters) -A congested Scottie Scheffler declared himself ‘ready to roll’ on Tuesday ahead of his Masters title defence this week and said that despite not lifting a title yet in 2025, he feels as prepared as he has been for any event so far this year.
The tournament favourite was noticeably congested while speaking to reporters at Augusta National Golf Club but insisted it was nothing to be concerned about as he bids to become the fourth player to retain a Masters title.
“Yeah, this rain and pollen out here. I get out of my car in the morning, my eyes start watering. It’s a little bit worse than normal years. But I feel good,” said Scheffler.
“Ready to roll. Sniffles aren’t going to stop me.”
While Scheffler is a popular pick to be the first repeat Masters winner since Tiger Woods in 2001-02, the rest of the field may feel they have reason to like their chances given the world number one has yet to find his best form this year.
When Scheffler arrived at the 2024 Masters he counted two wins among his seven top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour at that point of a dominant season in which he ultimately collected a total of seven titles on the U.S.-based circuit.
Scheffler’s 2025 season debut was delayed by about a month after needing hand surgery following a cooking accident and he has managed three top-10 finishes in six starts, including a runner-up finish at his Masters tune-up in Houston.
“I haven’t had the starts that I would have hoped to to start the year. I’ve had some good starts, but I haven’t had any really great ones yet,” said Scheffler.
But Scheffler, who first triumphed at Augusta National in 2022 and has a game is tailor-made for Augusta National, is not about to lose sleep over lack of a title so far this year and takes comfort and confidence in having put in the work.
“This year coming off an injury was definitely a different feeling than I’ve had in the last few years,” said Scheffler.
“But as far as preparedness goes, this is definitely as prepared as I’ve felt going into any event this year, and I’m excited to get the tournament going.”
Scheffler will launch his title defence at 10:15 a.m. ET (1415 GMT) on Thursday in the company of world number eight Justin Thomas and Spanish amateur Jose Luis Ballester.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Augusta, GeorgiaEditing by Christian Radnedge)
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