Scottie Scheffler agony as missed putt costs him chance of historic treble

World No 1 Scottie Scheffler missed a five-foot putt that cost him the chance to become the first PGA Tour golfer in seven years to win three tournaments in a row.

Scheffler – who missed a 22 inch putt on Friday – looked almost certain to force a play-off at the Houston Open when he hit a brilliant approach on the 18th.

But on the same green where he saw that tiddler lip out during the second round, Scheffler hit a woeful putt to hand the title to Geman outsider Stephan Jager.

Scheffler was trying, in his home state, to emulate Dustin Johnson’s hat-trick feat from 2017 and, in many respects, it is remarkable that the 27-year-old came so close. Not only did the putting gremlins gang up on Scheffler, but he battled with his driver at times and continually relied on his superlative iron play to keep him in contention.

While his rivals might be buoyed by Scheffler’s errors at Memorial Park, there can be no question that he remains the overwhelming favourite to win a second Masters title in three attempts. Scheffler will now take off this week, as the likes of Rory McIlroy have a prep event in San Antonio before arriving at the Augista featurepiece.

Jager is an interesting late-developer and will now figure ever more prominently on Luke Donald’s radar for next year’s Ryder Cup match in New York, Donald, the Europe captain, can only have been impressed by the 34-year-old’s final-round 67 for a 12-under total to win by one.

Jager had previously won six titles on the Korn Ferry Tour, the feeder to the main US circuit, and clearly has the killer instinct. He was one of the shorter hitters on Tour but has added length in the last few seasons and courtesy of this breakthrough has earned a Masters debut.