AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Even the azaleas at Augusta National seem to love Scottie Scheffler. The magnolia trees weren't so friendly, though.
The two-time Masters champion's title defense took some unusual detours into the flora surrounding Augusta National's ryegrass fairways and bentgrass greens Friday, and if he hopes to win a third green jacket Sunday, he'll have to rally from another unfamiliar spot — three shots outside the lead.
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Scottie Scheffler hits from the fairway on the 13th hole during the second round at the Masters golf tournament, Friday, April 11, 2025, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Scottie Scheffler putts on the 16th hole during the second round at the Masters golf tournament, Friday, April 11, 2025, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Scottie Scheffler hits from the bunker on the 15th hole during the second round at the Masters golf tournament, Friday, April 11, 2025, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Scottie Scheffler reacts after missing a putt on the second hole during the second round at the Masters golf tournament, Friday, April 11, 2025, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Scottie Scheffler celebrates after chipping in for birdie on the 12th hole during the second round at the Masters golf tournament, Friday, April 11, 2025, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Scheffler led by five shots at the halfway point in 2022 and won by three. Last year, he was tied for the lead after the second round and won by four — part of a nine-win season that included a gold medal at the Paris Olympics.
This time, he's at 5-under 139 and tied for fifth through 36 holes. Justin Rose was 8 under, with Bryson DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy also ahead of the defending champ.
Over his first 24 holes of this Masters, Scheffler played the sort of golf that makes even McIlroy jealous — bogey- and drama-free. Then he began to wobble, with three bogeys in a five-hole stretch.
And for a few seconds, it looked like he'd made a mess of the par-3 12th. His approach sailed well beyond the front left hole location and landed on an upslope covered by blooming azaleas — but the bushes spat out the ball, leaving a manageable chip.
From there, Scheffler's elite short game took over. He chipped in for an improbable birdie that got him back under par for the day.
“When you’re playing for the wind to be into and it turns around and goes straight down, I mean, it’s very challenging,” Scheffler said. “I was fortunate to see the ball come out of the bushes there and was able to take advantage of the break.”
The excitement wasn't over as the wind started gusting and temperatures cooled over his final six holes. He birdied Nos. 14 and 17 but had a three-putt bogey on the par-3 16th.
On the 18th, he sent his drive left, where it settled under a magnolia, and Scheffler addressed the ball from his knees before asking for a rules official and sitting down in the pine straw. He ultimately punched out to the fairway, sent his third shot over the green and got up and down for bogey.
“It’s quite challenging and you get winds like that. You’ve really got to manage your expectations, manage yourself around the course,” he said. “Sometimes I did a good job of that. Other times today, maybe not so good.”
No fan favorite when he won his first Masters, Scheffler has grown in the patrons' esteem since. During his nearly two years as the world's top-ranked player, he has let his guard down a bit, showing more of his dry, sarcastic sense of humor. But mostly, fans admire his incredible shot-making.
On Friday afternoon, even as McIlroy and DeChambeau moved up the leaderboard ahead of him, spectators crowded the tee boxes and marveled at Scheffler's perfectly struck approaches to the par-3 fourth and sixth holes, the second of those leading to birdie.
He’s seeking to become the first to win back-to-back Masters since Tiger Woods in 2002 and the second ever to win three of four. Jack Nicklaus did it in 1963, ’65 and ’66.
Eight players have won three or more green jackets: Nicklaus has six, Woods has five, Arnold Palmer won four, and Nick Faldo, Gary Player, Sam Snead and Jimmy Demaret won three each. At 28, Scheffler would also become the only active player under 30 with three major titles.
This is Scheffler’s first Masters as a dad, with 11-month-old Bennett having joined him for Wednesday’s Par 3 Contest, wearing a white caddie jumpsuit.
He still has a chance for another memorable moment with his son at the 18th hole Sunday.
This story has been corrected. A previous version reported incorrectly that Arnold Palmer won three Masters titles instead of four.
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Scottie Scheffler hits from the fairway on the 13th hole during the second round at the Masters golf tournament, Friday, April 11, 2025, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Scottie Scheffler putts on the 16th hole during the second round at the Masters golf tournament, Friday, April 11, 2025, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Scottie Scheffler hits from the bunker on the 15th hole during the second round at the Masters golf tournament, Friday, April 11, 2025, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Scottie Scheffler reacts after missing a putt on the second hole during the second round at the Masters golf tournament, Friday, April 11, 2025, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Scottie Scheffler celebrates after chipping in for birdie on the 12th hole during the second round at the Masters golf tournament, Friday, April 11, 2025, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
SYDNEY (AP) — Two gunmen shot dead at least 11 people on Sunday during a Jewish holiday celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, Australian authorities said, declaring it a terrorist attack. One gunman was fatally shot by police and the second arrested.
The suspect was in critical condition, authorities said. At least 29 people were confirmed wounded, including two police officers, said Mal Lanyon, the police commissioner for New South Wales state, where Sydney is located.
The massacre at one of Australia's most popular and iconic beaches followed a wave of antisemitic attacks that have roiled the country over the past year, although the authorities didn't suggest those episodes and Sunday's shooting were connected. They said one of the gunmen was known to the security services, but that there had been no specific threat.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declared it “an act of evil, antisemitism, terrorism that has struck the heart of our nation.”
“This attack was designed to target Sydney's Jewish community,” the state's Premier Chris Minns said. The massacre was declared a terrorist attack due to the event targeted and weapons used, Lanyon said.
Hundreds had gathered for the gathering at Bondi Beach called Chanukah by the Sea, which was celebrating the start of the eight-day Hanukkah festival.
Chabad identified one of the dead as Rabbi Eli Schlanger, assistant rabbi at Chabad of Bondi and a key organizer of the event,
Chabad is an Orthodox Jewish movement that is known for its outreach to non-religious Jews. It runs scores of centers around the world that are popular with Jewish travelers and often sponsors large public events during major Jewish holidays.
Video footage filmed by onlookers appeared to show two gunmen with long guns firing from a bridge. One dramatic clip apparently filmed by a member of the public and broadcast on Australian television channels showed someone appearing to tackle and disarm one of the gunmen, before pointing the man’s weapon at him.
Lachlan Moran, 32, from Melbourne, was waiting for his family nearby when he heard shots, he told The Associated Press. He dropped the beer he was carrying for his brother and ran.
“You heard a few pops, and I freaked out and ran away. ... I started sprinting. I just had that intuition. I sprinted as quickly as I could," Moran said. He said he heard shooting off and on for about five minutes.
“Everyone just dropped all their possessions and everything and were running and people were crying and it was just horrible," Moran said.
Grace, 30, from Melbourne, who declined to give her last name, and her partner Joel Sargent, 30, told the AP they were in their hotel room when they heard a banging sound and looked out of their window to see people running down the street, hiding behind trees and cars.
“People were screaming, and the gun sounded so loud," Grace said. "It was constant; it would have been over 50 (shots), easily.”
Police said emergency services were called to Campbell Parade in Bondi about 6.45 p.m. responding to reports of shots being fired.
Police said their operation was ongoing and officers were examining a number of suspicious items, including several improvised explosive devices found in one of the suspect's cars.
Albanese told reporters in Canberra that he was “devastated” by the massacre.
“This is a targeted attack on Jewish Australians on the first day of Hanukkah, which should be a day of joy, a celebration of faith, an act of evil, antisemitism, terrorism that has struck the heart of our nation,” Albanese said.
Albanese said the authorities were working to identify everyone involved in the attack. He said "the trauma and loss that families are dealing with tonight is beyond anyone’s worst nightmare,
“Let me be clear we will eradicate it amidst this vile act of violence and hate will emerge a moment of national unity where Australians across the board will embrace their fellow Australians of Jewish faith,” he said.
World leaders expressed condolences. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the “ghastly terrorist attack” and offered his condolences to the families who lost their loved ones
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was being updated on the “appalling attack.” Police in London said they would step up security at Jewish sites following the attack in Australia.
Australia, a country of 28 million people, is home to about 117,000 Jews, according to official figures. Antisemitic incidents including assaults, vandalism, threats and intimidation surged more than threefold in the country during the year after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the government's Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism Jillian Segal reported in July.
Throughout last summer, the country was rocked by spate of antisemitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne. Synagogues and cars were torched, businesses and homes graffitied and Jews attacked in those cities, where 85% of the nation’s Jewish population live.
Albanese in August blamed Iran for two of the attacks and cut diplomatic ties to Tehran. The authorities didn't make such claims about Sunday's massacre.
Israel urged Australia's government to address crimes targeting Jews.
“The heart of the entire nation of Israel misses a beat at this very moment,” Israeli President Isaac Herzog said. “We repeat our alerts time and time again to the Australian government to seek action and fight against the enormous wave of antisemitism which is plaguing Australian society.”
Mass shooting s in Australia are extremely rare. A 1996 massacre in the Tasmanian town of Port Arthur, where a lone gunman killed 35 people, prompted the government to drastically tighten gun laws and made it much more difficult for Australians to acquire firearms.
Significant mass shootings this century included two murder-suicides with death tolls of five people in 2014, and seven in 2018, in which gunmen killed their own families and themselves.
In 2022, six people were killed in a shootout between police and Christian extremists at a rural property in Queensland state.
McGuirk reported from Melbourne, Australia, and Graham-McLay from Wellington, New Zealand. Associated Press writer Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.
A small Christmas tree is at the center of an abandoned holiday picnic at Bondi Beach after a reported shooting in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Bystanders stay where police cordon off an area at Bondi Beach after a reported shooting in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Emergency workers transport a person on a stretcher after a reported shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Emergency workers standby at Bondi Beach after a reported shooting in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Emergency workers transport a person on a stretcher after a reported shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Emergency workers transport a person on a stretcher after a reported shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Emergency workers transport a person on a stretcher after a reported shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Emergency workers transport a person on a stretcher after a reported shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Emergency workers transport a person on a stretcher after a reported shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Emergency workers transport a person on a stretcher after a reported shooting at Bondi Beach, in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
