AUGUSTA, Georgia: While he still searches for his first major victory, Xander Schauffele has a strong record at the Masters. But that doesn’t mean he feels any differently about the challenges of Augusta National.
At his pre-Masters press conference on Monday, Schauffele was asked whether players handle the ins and outs of Augusta — particularly the challenging greens — better with each passing year.
“I mean, maybe the scare factor goes away,” Schauffele said. “I still think they’re pretty scary, to be completely honest.”
Schauffele played the back nine for a practice round on Monday, and he said he tried a bunker shot toward one of the pin locations that rolled 15 feet to the left of his intended target. So he started practicing the shot at a much less comfortable angle.
“And it’s scary to aim 25 feet right, having to hit the exact pace to have it roll down that slope as a putt to hit it to tap in,” Schauffele said. “We’re not really used to that. So that part to me is still kind of scary.
“But even watching coverage, there’s so many small nuances I feel like to the property. … There’s so many small little things, even when I was watching some of the old Masters highlights at home, just — I feel like 18,…
