Unfortunate reason Masters champion Scottie Scheffler is struggling before he defends his green jacket at Augusta

Scottie Scheffler’s efforts to win a third green jacket are being hampered by the high pollen count at Augusta.

The defending champion was noticeably bunged up as he discussed his prospects of retaining the title he won in 2022 and 2024.

But he has played down any impact of a mild illness, saying on Tuesday: ‘Sniffles aren’t going to stop me.’

He added: ‘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, ready to roll.’

Scheffler finds himself in the midst of a fallow period on the title front, having not celebrated a victory in 2025 after claiming no fewer than nine last year. Painting that run as a slump would be absurd, not least as he two top-three finishes in his past six starts, but it is out of character for the world No 1.

There is also a natural question to ask about the impact of a freak hand injury over Christmas, when he sustained a cut in the process of making ravioli with a wine glass. His rounds of 67, 62, 69 and 63 in Texas last time out, where he finished runner up to Min Woo Lee, would suggest the recovery is complete.

His plan in Augusta was to play the back nine on Wednesday having limbered up with a full 18 on Sunday and the outward half on Tuesday.

He said: ‘This is definitely the most prepared that I’ve felt all year. I talked a lot about my preparation and stepping up on the tee at Pebble Beach (in January) feeling like I wasn’t exactly where I was when I ended the year just because I had taken so much time off.

‘That was a different feeling because coming into the off-season I think you’re always really excited to get out and play. This year coming off an injury was definitely a different feeling than I’ve had in the last few years.

‘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.’

Despite his winless streak, Scheffler will naturally rank as the favourite here, though there has been a growing belief that Rory McIlroy is the man to beat.

McIlroy has benefited lately by trying to emulate Scheffler’s ability to forget bad shots. On the flipside, the American wants to borrow some of the ‘freedom’ of McIlroy’s play.

He said: ‘I think when you look at a lot of the players out here on Tour, I think there’s a lot we can learn from each other. Like Rory, I feel like has always been someone who’s played really freely. All the times I’ve played with him, he swings it really hard off the tee, and I feel like he does a really good job of playing free and playing loose at times.

‘It’s real easy for me to notice that. It’s a lot harder to go out there and say, “Hey, I’m going to play freely”, then actually do it. I think in golf a lot of times it’s easier said than done.

‘So when you look at the historically great players, guys like the Rory McIlroys and Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelsons and all those guys, they were really good at noticing things they could improve at. Actually being able to do it is really the thing that they were best at.’