Scottie Scheffler can crush the Masters favourite hoodoo

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Thunderstorms are forecasted to roll into Augusta on Thursday and play havoc with the first round of the 2024 Masters. But Mother Nature will do well to put Scottie Scheffler off his stride.

The world No1 has the incredible form and unflappable temperament to become the first favourite to win the season’s first major in 19 years.

The American has won twice and finished second in his past three starts and warrants the odds of 3-1. Augusta has not seen a golfer so short in the betting since Tiger Woods in his prime. In fact, it was Woods who last justified the bookmakers’ faith in 2005. Since then, the likes of Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Woods, himself – eight times – have failed to live up to the market confidence. Augusta National has started to make the Grand National look predictable.

Scheffler can crush the myth by exposing another Augusta fable. Of course, short game is important on these brutal greens, but the most telling chart is greens in regulation (GIR). Among all stats, including number of putts, fairways hit, and driving distance, GIR has enjoyed the biggest correlation. In the last decade, only two champions have finished outside the top five in GIR and in its history the golfer who has led the field in GIR has won six times, compared to just once for the leaders in the fairways hit and putting columns.

Scheffler is top of the GIR list on the PGA Tour, with a percentage of 76.13 and if he replicates those figures this week it will be tough to stop him winning a second Green Jacket in three years. Indeed, many here believe that only the arrival of his first child stands between the world No1 and a return to the Butler Cabin. His wife Meredith is due later this month, but Scheffler has revealed that if the baby arrives early he will leave this tournament, no matter at what stage the competition or where he stands on the leaderboard.