World number one Scottie Scheffler narrowly missed out on an incredible comeback victory at The Masters on Sunday evening.
Scheffler was 12 strokes behind Rory McIlroy heading into the weekend, after two frustrating rounds at Augusta National.
He then carded a seven-under-par 65 on Saturday to reduce the deficit to four strokes before the final round.
Scheffler’s 68 on Sunday made a third Masters success look possible, but it was not quite enough to defeat McIlroy.
Scottie Scheffler comments on Rory McIlroy’s mentality after second Masters win
Scheffler discussed McIlroy’s second consecutive Masters victory in his interview after the tournament had concluded on Sunday.
He highlighted McIlroy’s “resilience” as a key reason he has won twice at Augusta National and many other events throughout his career.
Having lost his six-shot lead on Saturday, McIlroy quashed any doubts over his mentality with his clutch performance on the back nine on Sunday.
“Yeah, to me, it doesn’t say much more because I’ve competed against him for a long time, and you don’t win the amount of tournaments that he’s won out here without being pretty resilient,” Scheffler said.
“Having a six-shot lead at Augusta is never easy, and losing that is obviously something difficult. But at the end of the day, when you tee it up here on Sunday, he’s tied for the lead to start the day and had a solid round and did what he needed to do to get it done.
“I knew going into today, I was going to have to do something special if I wanted to catch him on Cam, and I was close, but just a few shots here or there.”
Unfortunately for Scheffler, McIlroy had just enough composure to hold off his rivals despite some nervous moments.
Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler have dominated recent major championships
Scheffler was reminded after McIlroy’s win that the top two players in the world had won four of the last five major championships.
There is a significant gap between the leading duo and the next-best player in the world, which could be Jon Rahm or Bryson DeChambeau.
“Yeah, I mean, I didn’t realize that until you just said,” Scheffler added. “Yeah, Rory won the last two Masters, and I clipped some majors last year.
“So yeah, I think the major championships bring out the best in me sometimes, and I had some good starts last year, and I obviously had a good week this week.
“There are a few shots I’d like to have back, but overall put up a good fight. Does that answer your question?”
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