One of the reasons it was difficult to criticise Min Woo Lee for opening the door for the chasing pack on Sunday at the Texas Children’s Houston Open was the fact that one of the players hunting him down was Scottie Scheffler.

A disappointing Saturday left Scottie Scheffler five shots back of Min Woo Lee with 18 holes to play at Memorial Park. Nevertheless, Scheffler felt he hit the ball much better during the third round than he had done in his round of 62 on Friday.

And he was able to put the pressure on on Sunday. The 28-year-old made four straight birdies on the back nine to move to within one of the Australian.

Lee was able to get across the line for his first PGA Tour victory. Scheffler meanwhile, is still awaiting his first win of the year – though his run of not finishing outside of the top 25 in any of his starts has, obviously, continued.

Scottie Scheffler spots positives after finishing second at the Texas Children’s Houston Open

And ominously for his rivals, it appears that Scheffler feels that his game is moving in the right direction with The Masters just around the corner.

Speaking after his final round, Scheffler noted that he was happy with his ball-striking, his swing and his putting across the week.

“Yeah, definitely feel better. I feel like I can still clean up a few things in my swing. You know, my ball-striking wasn’t as sharp as I would have liked for it to have been this week, but overall I mean, yesterday and today I felt like we’re improving in the ball-striking. Yesterday the score I don’t think showed it, but today the way I struck it, especially down the stretch when I really needed to, hit some really nice shots. Good iron shot into 15, good iron shot into 16, good one into 17. I did some things that I really liked under the gun. Good pitch shot on 18 as well to still give myself a chance. Did some things that I’ll reflect on that were good and did some things that I can sharpen up a little bit,” he said.

“I liked the way my swing started to feel over the weekend. I felt like I holed a good amount of putts this week, especially under pressure on the back nine today. Felt like I hit my lines really well and did some good things out there. So definitely some positive momentum going into next week,” he added.

Scheffler outlines his plans ahead of the Masters

Despite Rory McIlroy winning twice already this year, Scheffler is likely to remain as the favourite heading into the first major of the year. He has won two of the previous three Masters tournaments, and he has really not played badly recently.

Scheffler has not yet found the same groove which he spent 2024 in. But it really feels as if it is getting closer and closer to clicking for the American.

And following his final round, he explained what his plans are ahead of his title defence in Georgia.

“I’ll just go home and practice like I normally would, just stick to my routine. Get some good days of practice in with Randy, have a couple play days as well, get out on the course and see how things feel. We’ll head over to Augusta on Sunday,” he said.

The golfing world may be waiting for Scheffler to find his best form again. But it will also come as a surprise to absolutely no-one if it all comes together in the next fortnight and sees Scheffler secure a third major title.