The Masters 2023 -- Defending champ Scottie Scheffler's blandness is by design

AUGUSTA, Ga. — WHEN SCOTT SCHEFFLER showed up in Dr. Troy Van Biezen's office in Dallas one day in fall 2014, he was panicked.

Scheffler's son, Scottie, had been one of the best junior golfers in the world, but was struggling to even hit a ball straight as a freshman at the University of Texas. The player who only months earlier had tied for 22nd (and made a hole-in-one) in the 2014 Byron Nelson Championship, a PGA Tour event, could no longer break par. He posted an 18-over total in 54 holes in his first collegiate start. He carded a 15-over score in his second start.

Making matters worse, Scottie's ailing back had forced him to pull out of a tournament. After growing about 13 inches during a 14-month span in high school, Scottie's muscles and joints were no longer able to support his 6-foot-2 frame.

«We sat there on a Saturday and just said, 'Enough is enough. Let's figure this out. How do we get him better? How do we get him back on the golf course competing at a high level, like he has been?'» said Van Biezen, a trainer and chiropractor who has worked with many athletes, including Tiger Woods. «You can't compete at a high level in pain or with an injury. You just can't do that anymore.»

There had always been signs that Scheffler might one day slip on a green jacket as the Masters champion and become one of the best players in the world. He shot 37 over nine holes as a 5-year-old. He carded a 33 the next year. From 2004 to 2010, he won nearly 60% of his starts in junior tournaments, amassing a staggering 74 victories. In high school, he was a three-time individual state champion.

But now Scheffler's dream was in danger of being derailed by an ailing back and rapidly fading confidence.

«The hardest thing for any athlete