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By Phil Casey
Former champion Scottie Scheffler can have one eye on his Masters preparations as he bids to turn out to be the primary participant to win on three consecutive begins since 2017.
Scheffler adopted his five-shot victory within the Arnold Palmer Invitational by turning into the primary participant ever to efficiently defend the Gamers Championship due to a closing 64 at Sawgrass.
The final participant to win three consecutive begins on the PGA Tour was Dustin Johnson, though Scheffler will hope the similarities will finish there if he can triumph within the Texas Youngsters’s Houston Open.
After profitable the Genesis Invitational, WGC-Mexico Championship and WGC-Dell Applied sciences Match Play seven years in the past, Johnson was a sizzling favorite for the upcoming Masters however injured his again in a fall at his rental residence in Augusta and was pressured to withdraw from the yr’s first main.
“I don’t actually assume a lot about that type of stuff,” Scheffler instructed a press convention when requested about his potential hat-trick.
“I had a very good relaxation week at residence final week. I used to be fairly worn out after Bay Hill and the Gamers so it was good to get residence and simply calm down. I didn’t do almost as a lot observe as I sometimes would have within the final week, so coming in shaking off just a little little bit of rust the final couple days.
“However my recreation feels prefer it’s in a great place, so I really feel rested and able to go this week.
“The previous few years taking part in round this place there was an enormous premium on driving accuracy, which I feel for a protracted golf course like this was actually good.
“This yr it’s a bit totally different with the overseed, they actually didn’t put in a lot tough in any respect, which is a bit totally different. I feel they’re in all probability making an attempt to make it like Augusta so I suppose that’s a very good factor for prep work.”
Scheffler gained his sole main title to this point within the 2022 Masters, having already tasted victory 3 times that season earlier than taking every week off forward of the journey to Augusta.
The world primary will undertake an analogous strategy once more this yr whereas the likes of Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood and Jordan Spieth have opted to contest subsequent week’s Valero Texas Open as an alternative.
“I bear in mind the yr I gained the Masters I gained the Match Play and the yr earlier than that I had performed nicely within the Match Play, made it to the finals,” Scheffler added.
“I ended up dropping to Billy [Horschel] within the finals that week. Then I performed San Antonio and I confirmed as much as the Masters and I used to be utterly whipped nonetheless.
“The following yr, in 2022, I used to be nonetheless scheduled to play Austin, San Antonio and the Masters and after making it to the finals of Match Play once more that yr, I didn’t wish to go into the Masters drained like I had the yr earlier than.
“So I suppose you may say it labored. I don’t actually know if that’s essentially the key sauce, but it surely was positively good being rested going into the Masters [in 2022] so I’ve taken the identical strategy within the final couple years.”
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