Scheffler To Visit Augusta Ahead Of The Masters

We're now a month away from the Masters and, away from all the talk of designated events and LIV Golf, we'll finally have a major to get stuck into. The last time we saw any major action was when Cam Smith stormed up the top page of the leaderboard to pip Rory McIlroy at St Andrews and then packed his bags for LIV.

Now we have Augusta just around the corner and many eyes will be on Scottie Scheffler who blew everyone away last year. The American raced to the World No. 1 spot in the blink of an eye and then backed it all up with a dominant display in Georgia.

This year he will do something different to any normal week and enjoy a pre-tournament recce to get his head around some of those memories ahead of this year's tournament.

"That's something I'm definitely looking forward to. You know, try and get kind of reliving the memories out of the way before I show up there. Because when you show up for tournament week you don't want to be thinking too much about last year. You want to be getting ready for this year," the 26-year-old explained.

"Everybody starts at even. If you're the defending champ, you got the target on your back, it's arguably harder to play well. So, I'll get kind of get a little bit of the memories and stuff like that out of the way. That way when I show up on Sunday I'm ready for the week."

The American also admitted that Augusta, and closing out other tournaments, will play on his mind in other events. Scheffler has won already this year, in Phoenix, when he beat Nick Taylor by two shots.

"I would say when I'm preparing for tournaments I'm always preparing and thinking about the situations on Saturdays and Sundays and how you actually feel in the moment. So any time you're able to be in that moment and succeed like I was last year it definitely gives you a bit of confidence moving forward.

"As I prepare for those events I know exactly what it feels like when you're standing there on 15 tee on Saturday when you have a lead or close to the lead. I know how I'm feeling on those shots. Having the ability to prepare knowing exactly how you feel is very important.

"As I'm doing my practice, Augusta's always kind of in the back of your head as you're at home working on shots and stuff like that. So it's in the back of your head, but at the same time I'm very focused on this week and hoping to play well."

When Scheffler won the Masters he admitted afterwards that the Sunday build-up had been quite overwhelming.

“Last night was fine. This morning was a totally different story. I cried like a baby this morning. I was so stressed out. I didn’t know what to do. I was sitting there telling (wife) Meredith, ‘I don’t think I’m ready for this. I’m not ready, I don’t feel like I’m ready for this kind of stuff, and I just felt overwhelmed.'”