Scheffler is back to defend his Masters title, if he can make it through the Champions Dinner safely

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — The prerogative of choosing the menu for the Champions Dinner at the Masters falls upon the defending champion, and Scottie Scheffler made an addition in his second go-around at those selections that underscored his wry sense of humor. His dad used to make wonderful meatballs. It was young Scottie's favorite dish growing up. And you can't very well have meatballs without some sort of pasta. So, the two-time Masters champion quite naturally thought: "ravioli." The same thing he was making in December, when the world's No. 1 player shredded his hand on a shard of glass. Come to think of it, maybe instead of just serving the ravioli Tuesday night, when the former Masters champions all gathered to celebrate Scheffler and reminisce with one another, he ought to have had some ravioli-making stations. "If I was trying to take out the competition," Scheffler said with a grin, "I would definitely do a demonstration, something along those lines. But yeah, hopefully avoid the injuries. Maybe they'll cut up my steak for me so I won't have to use a knife." Jokes aside, the funniest thing might be this: The idea that Scheffler has to sabotage anyone. Sure, he's yet to win this season, which seems downright unfathomable after a year in which he not only triumphed seven times on the PGA Tour and won Olympic gold, but it seemed as if the only thing that could slow him down was a trip to jail. But he still has three top-10 finishes in six starts despite a late jump on the year as his hand healed from the broken wine glass, and Scheffler is coming off a tie for second at the Houston Open, where he finished one back of Min Woo Lee. He's still the world's top player by a wide margin. His game is in a good place. And his life seems to be, too. Another perk of winning the Masters is the opportunity to play with a guest the Sunday before the tournament. Scheffler's younger sister, Molly, got the call last year. It was his mom, Diane, who spent this past weekend walking among the Georgia pines. "I think I definitely learned a lot of my work ethic from watching her," said Scheffler, recalling the long hours Diane spent as an executive at a law firm. "She always put her best into her job and her best at being a mom, as well. She worked full-time while we were growing up. My dad stayed home and took care of all four of us. "It wasn't I would say an ideal situation for her. I think she would have rather have stayed home all day, stayed home and took care of us, and she definitely missed a little bit of that. So now on the other side with her being retired, she gets to spend a lot of time with us and with her grandchildren. So it's really fun for her to be on this side of it now where the work is done." One of those grandkids is Bennett, who was born to Scottie and his wife, Meredith, about a month after his dad slipped on his second green jacket. Scheffler said becoming a parent himself has allowed him to better appreciate what his own parents went through, and it put what he does between the ropes in the proper perspective. Bad shots still stink, of course, and great shots still feel great. But at the end of the day, he can forget about both. "Looking at this year," Scheffler said, "I haven't had the starts that I would have hoped to start the year. I've had some good starts but I haven't had any really great ones yet. But when you get home at the end of the day, Bennett is still going to do pretty much the exact same thing he always does when I get home. My work is definitely not going to affect him." His work — Scheffler's brilliant ball-striking, his sublime scrambling — certainly affects everyone in the field. They just about all point to him as the favorite, and the oddsmakers back them up, with BetMGM Sportsbook installing him as the 9-2 top choice. Does he ever feel that target on his back? That giant bullseye for the rest of the world's best players? "I mean, at the end of the day, when I tee it up on Thursday, I start the tournament even-par, just like everybody else," Scheffler said. "It's a totally new golf tournament. Last year means nothing."