Down a shot to Stephan Jaeger on the 72nd hole of the tournament, Scottie Scheffler hit a dart into the 18th green at Memorial Park Golf Course to set up a 5-foot birdie putt that would have forced a playoff at the 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open.
Given the world No. 1’s recent form and putting prowess after his move to a mallet putter, it seemed as if the tournament was destined for extra golf. Except Scheffler’s putt broke left at the last second and missed the edge, which opened the door for Jaeger to make par and earn his first PGA Tour win in his 135th start.
“I didn’t think it was going to move very much and I tried to hit it straight and I feel like I started right in the middle and looked like it broke off pretty hard, so just a misread,” Scheffler said of his missed birdie putt.
Scheffler, who had won his last two starts on Tour at the Players Championship and Arnold Palmer Invitational, felt like he hit a lot of good putts down the end, they just didn’t fall.
To force a playoff …
A narrow miss by Scottie Scheffler whose bid to win three straight falls one shot short pic.twitter.com/RMgjfQB7u3
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 31, 2024
“Obviously I’m a bit disappointed right now. At the end of the day it would be one thing if I pulled it or something like that. I just misread it,” he added. “I don’t know why I misread it, it’s part of the game. Maybe I could have hit it with some more speed, I felt like I hit a nice putt kind of how I wanted to, just didn’t go.”
The 27-year-old is off this week and will head to Augusta National on Sunday to begin his preparation for the 2024 Masters, where he’ll enter as a massive favorite.
