Scheffler builds five-shot Masters lead as Tiger makes weekend

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Scottie Scheffler strolled off Augusta National with both hands in his pockets as if he had just finished a casual round at home in the late afternoon.

The Masters was anything but that Friday.

The wind roaring through the Georgia pines gave Tiger Woods and so many others all they could handle, a relentless fight from tee to green. And then Scheffler made it feel even tougher.

His 5-under 67 matched the low score of the day and gave him a five-shot lead, tying a Masters record after 36 holes. The last four players who led by five shots going into the weekend went on to win. The lone exception was Harry “Lighthorse” Cooper in 1936.

That brought little more than a shrug from the No. 1 player in the world.

“I think I’m still playing against the golf course out there,” Scheffler said. “And there’s a bunch of other guys in he field. So I can’t be paying too much attention to them either way.”

Scheffler is beating them all, along with an increasingly difficult Augusta National.

“You live on a knife’s edge every hole, honestly,” said Adam Scott, who played in Scheffler's group. "And I was playing with a guy who made it look easy. But that’s how he’s playing at the moment.”

In his debut as the new No. 1 player in the world, Scheffler looked the part. He was bogey-free over the final 15 holes, played smart from the fairways and trusted every shot he faced even as the wind was as strong as it was fickle.

Scheffler, the 25-year-old Texas Longhorn, has won three of his last five starts on the PGA Tour and doesn’t appear to be overwhelmed by the stage of Augusta National.

“I put myself in position, where I’m in position to win this golf tournament. I couldn’t ask for anything more after 36 holes,” Scheffler said.