AUGUSTA, Ga. — Cam Smith was the one player who had a chance to chase down Scottie Scheffler in Sunday’s Masters final round.

The 28-year-old Aussie can be a fearless birdie machine, and when he carded birdies on the first two holes, he quickly reduced Scheffler’s three-shot lead to a mere one stroke. But he never got closer, with bogeys on Nos. 3 and 4 halting his momentum and a disastrous triple bogey on the par-3 12th hole ended his chances.

Smith, who finished tied for second in 2020 and tied for 10th in 2021, finished tied for third this week.

“Just too many mistakes,” Smith said afterward. “Poor shot on 12 and that’s the tournament. It was just a perfect 9-iron. Just a really bad swing, probably one of the worst swings of the week at the worst time of the week. I’ll grow from this and be stronger for it.”

Smith believes his time will come at Augusta.

“I feel like I’ve played some of my best golf around here, it just hasn’t quite been my time yet,” Smith said. “A couple lucky breaks and I’ll be putting that green jacket on one day.”

Englishman Tyrrell Hatton, who finished last among the 52 players who made the cut, shooting 17-over after Sunday’s 80, said, “I’m glad it’s over” when it was over.

He sounded a lot like Sergio Garcia once did when expressing his frustrations about Augusta National.

“Obviously, disappointed, but I just never do well here,” Hatton said. “This course doesn’t really suit my eye, to be honest. If I come back in the future, it’s just a case of trying to get through the best that I can. … You can hit good shots here and not get any reward for it. It’s unfair at times. I don’t agree with that.”

“If you hit a good shot, you should end up near the hole. Not then short-sided into a bunker because of the slopes that they’ve created and stuff. I don’t think it’s a fair test at times.”

“When you are clearly bottom of the field during the weekend, even if I feel like I’ve hit good shots out there, I’ve not been rewarded for them, so it’s a case of just lose a bit of interest. I’m just trying to ideally get off the golf course as fast as possible. I can say it wasn’t a fun walk. Maybe I’ll be better off if I come back being a caddie here rather than trying to hit golf shots.”

Jon Rahm, who earlier in the week playfully joked that Tiger Woods only gives advice to Justin Thomas, was paired with Woods in Sunday’s Masters final round and paid homage to him afterward.

“I think the last maybe seven years of golf since 2015 with Jordan [Spieth], Jason Day, Dustin [Johnson], Rory [McIlroy], Brooks [Koepka], myself, Justin Thomas, many other great players now with Cameron [Smith] and Scottie Scheffler, it’s a perfect example of the Tiger effect,” Rahm said. “All of us are close in age, Dustin being a little bit older. We all grew up watching Tiger. We all grew up wanting to be him, and we all grew up with the dream of being major champions.

“With the advancement in golf, in all of us thinking of ourselves as athletes, you can see the difference. Everybody can reach a new level. It’s a beautiful part of the golden age of golf we’re living in right now.’’

Rahm, who shot 69, said he enjoyed Sunday’s round because all the attention was on Woods.

“It was great because nobody cared about me, so I was just watching him play,’’ Rahm said. “I was one more spectator, and I ended playing good. Kind of a bit of a load off my shoulders in that sense. I was able to enjoy today as a fan and as a player.

Bubba Watson, the 2012 and 2014 winner, said the best memory he’ll take away from this Masters was the return of Woods.

“It’s the inspiration of Tiger,’’ Watson said. “Tiger … forget score. I don’t care. Watching him walk, gosh, I cry on a paper cut. For him to be able to walk and make the cut is pretty spectacular.’’