Scottie Scheffler excited ahead of joining one of golf’s ‘great fraternities’ at Masters in Augusta

Defending champion Scottie Scheffler has spoken of his excitement ahead of this year’s Masters and the chance to join “one of the greatest fraternities in golf”.

His reward was not only an iconic green jacket but also the chance to host this year’s Masters Club Dinner that is only open to former champions.

The 26-year-old returned to the scene of his famous triumph on a scouting trip earlier this month where the prospect of defending his title and mixing with some of the sport’s legendary names really hit home.

“When we went to Augusta last week, that was really one of the first times where winning the Masters felt real. Because we got back on property, I’d just come off the win at The Players, so our celebration was just going to play Augusta,” he told reporters ahead of this week’s World Golf Championships Dell Technologies Match Play event in Austin, Texas.

“That was really one of the first times where it felt real that I had won the Masters,” he added. “So when it comes to Tuesday night and being there for that dinner and talking to everybody else who has won that tournament in the past, it will be pretty special.

“It will definitely be emotional for me. I’m going to try and hold back the tears. But I think it will just be a really, really cool experience. One of the greatest fraternities in golf to be in that room. Yeah, it’s going to be really special. I don’t know exactly what I’ll feel like, but it will definitely be really special.”

The Augusta National Golf Club have already announced the menu for the ‘Champions Dinner’ and Scheffler has since revealed he had a little help.

“I think it was Blake [Smith, agent], Meredith [Scudder, wife] and me one day, we were kind of sitting around and it was like, okay, well it’s probably time to figure out the menu” he explained.

“And we kind of went like, all right, well, ‘what are your favourite foods?’. And it was like Meredith and I just started listing them off like steak, burgers, fried shrimp, mac and cheese, jalapeno cream corn.”

He added: “I just went through all the list and we got basically all the foods and it’s like, okay, what could we actually do and we kind of narrowed it down a little bit. Then we talked to the chef at Augusta who kind of is the professional in the room, because I’m definitely not a professional when it comes to this stuff!

“He kind of helped us put it together and I think we did a good job of — it’s definitely not going to be on any nutritionist’s plan, but we’re going to have fun, we’re going to eat some good food.”

Scheffler has maintained that strong run of form since his Masters success but he did not taste success again until the WM Phoenix Open back in February.

However, he swiftly followed that up with victory at the PGA Tour’s flagship event – The Players Championship – last month that propelled him back to the top spot in the Official World Golf Rankings.

Despite his lofty status, he is wary of the latest alterations to the Augusta layout – including the changes to the par-5 13th hole that will now play 35 yards longer than last year.

“It’s a lot longer,” insisted Scheffler, “and definitely harder.”

He added: “I used to hit 3-wood there because I can sling hook a 3-wood. I can’t sling hook a driver on purpose. The ball just doesn’t spin enough. I can do it by accident, but I can’t quite sling it on purpose.

“I like to fade my driver more off the tee, and so when it comes to that tee shot and hitting a hard hook with the driver, it’s not really a shot that I’ll try just because it’s not worth the risk for me.

“Now I’ll just hit driver kind of out towards the corner and try to use more of the contouring to get the ball that way.”

Scheffler also weighed in on the changes to No. 11 that has reportedly seen the removal of a number of trees down the right hand side of the fairway.

“There’s a little bit less luck involved,” he said. “Now if you hit it over to the right, you’re going to be in the fairway still, but you have three trees in your way and you can hit it over the trees or under the trees and it leaves an opportunity for a great shot.

“Whereas before there really wasn’t that opportunity. I’m still definitely not trying to hit it over there because you can hit a really good shot from that area and just land it a little short of your number and it’s going to hit that mound and go into the water.

“But I think that’s kind of what they were trying to do on that hole is give an opportunity to still have a great shot. I mean, when I think of the Masters or I think of some of the historic shots that have been hit out there and most of ’em are from peculiar areas of the golf course. They’re not all necessarily from the centre of the fairway. I think that hole provides another opportunity for a pretty incredible shot.”