Scottie Scheffler appears to be running on fumes after an exhausting Masters victory just four days ago as he trailed J.T. Poston by six shots after the first round of the RBC Heritage.
World No 1 Scheffler carded a two-under 69 at Harbour Town Golf Links four days after claiming his second Masters title.
Scheffler, who is seeking his fourth win in his past five starts, rebounded from a double bogey on the third hole to sink four birdies on the day and record his 37th consecutive round of par or better.
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Watch the story of Scottie Scheffler’s final round as he claimed a second green jacket at Augusta with a four-under-par 68, his second Masters win in the last three years
“I felt like I played a lot better than my score,” Scheffler said. “I tried to give myself a little bit of grace today, just because I was a bit tired. I shanked that bunker shot today on three and I was kind of like, OK, that’s a bit unusual. I think maybe mentally I might not quite be there.’
“But I didn’t show up to the tournament to hear any sort of ceremonial, to hear a bunch of congratulations and whatnot. I came to play and to compete, and so I was fairly frustrated by the time we got to about 13 or 14 and I look up and J.T. is already eight under or whatever it is and I’m sitting there almost over par.
“But I put up a good fight, had a good finish. It was nice to put something up in red numbers today.”
Poston set the pace on an idyllic day on Hilton Head Island with nine birdies – six of them in a seven-hole stretch – for a 63 that gave him a two-shot lead over Collin Morikawa and Seamus Power.
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Ludvig Åberg, the runner-up at Augusta, was in the group another shot behind while Rory McIlroy birdied his last two holes to salvage a scrappy day with the irons for a 67.
“I felt like it was one of those days where if I could give myself a look, and I felt pretty confident in being able to make those putts, whether it was a close one or a 20-, 25-footer,” Poston said. “It sort of freed up the tee to green a little bit, I guess you could say.”
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