SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER slammed the course after Rory McIlroy pipped him to the Masters title.
Scheffler, 29, had his hopes of a third Augusta victory dashed as McIlroy, 36, became the FOURTH golfer in history to win back-to-back at Augsuta.
But this edition replaced a nervous play-off against Justin Rose with a single shot advantage over Scheffler.
The PGA star said: “I’m not in charge of course setup.
“I would have liked it to have been a little bit more equal in terms of the firmness on Thursday and Friday.
“I was a bit surprised at how soft things were on Friday afternoon, especially as it got late in the day.”
In hindsight, perhaps it wasn’t a surprise that the American came up short after a difficult few weeks leading up to the Masters.
Yet ultimately it all came down to a nightmare missed shot on the 17th hole.
The runner-up added: “The weather also changes and it was a bit windy on Thursday, so who knows.
“That’s part of the game. We play an outdoor sport and you don’t know how conditions are going to change, especially course conditions.”
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But when asked what in his display harmed his Masters chances, he put it down to play on Friday.
Scheffler said: “I’d say Friday probably hurt the most in terms of my chances of winning.
“We went out on Thursday afternoon where some of the most challenging conditions we had all week.
“I didn’t see many birdies out there Thursday afternoon, so going out on Friday, whatever they did to the greens to soften them up, they did some stuff, and I just wasn’t able to take advantage of that going on early on Friday.
“And then you saw the barrage of birdies that Rory made and Cam Young and a bunch of guys made on Friday late in the day, and I think I finished maybe two over par on Friday.
“So that day probably hurt the most in terms of my chances to win.”
Scheffler won the Masters in both 2022 and 2024 – and this year marked his seventh appearance at Augusta.
McIlroy joined join Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo, and Tiger Woods as golfers who have won here two years in a row.
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