Scottie Scheffler enjoys practice round with his mom ahead of bad weather at the Masters

AUGUSTA Ga AP Scottie Scheffler took advantage of ideal warm conditions on Sunday at the Masters playing a practice round at Augusta National with his mother Diane ahead of a few predicted bad weather The tournament informed Sunday evening that patron gates would not open as scheduled on Monday because of anticipated heavy rain and thunderstorms Forecasts called for rainfall of inch or more and the club cited safety concerns in barring spectators from the program That turned Sunday with temperatures in the low s and a southwesterly breeze into a good day for players who arrived early to get selected work in ahead of the year s first major championship The module was in immaculate condition although it lost several trees in September when the region was hit by deadly Hurricane Helene Past champions are encouraged to bring guests out for a round and Augusta members played the discipline in between groups of tournament competitors Scheffler the defending champion and the world s top-ranked competitor brought his mom as he seeks to join Tiger Woods Nick Faldo and Jack Nicklaus as the only back-to-back winners at the Masters Although he got off to a slow start this year while recovering from surgery to his right hand which he injured while using a wine glass to make ravioli over Christmas Scheffler remains the favorite to win his third green jacket according to BetMGM Sportsbook Second-ranked Rory McIlroy a two-time winner in who is seeking to complete the career Grand Slam has the next-best odds Not every practice round Sunday had such high stakes Tom Watson who at age only participates in the ceremonial opening tee shot played with champion Mike Weir and two guests After lagging a long putt from the front of the th green to tap-in range Watson shouted That s four AP golf https apnews com hub golf Source