“I thought I was going to be out a week,” Curry said. “Ten days max. [But] every time I got on the court or tried to push it in that first month, there was always a reaction. You just knew it wasn’t healing as fast as you thought.”

The pain and swelling in Curry’s right knee initially popped up Jan. 24 during a workout in Minneapolis. He played through it for a few games before leaving the lineup Jan. 30.

Curry has since missed more than two months with what is termed as “runner’s knee,” but he advanced to 5-on-5 scrimmaging this past week and finally received clearance from the medical staff to make his return against the Houston Rockets at home Sunday night.

He will officially be listed as questionable, but assuming there aren’t unexpected setbacks in the next 24 hours, he is expected to play.

“Every day I wake up, first thing I think is how this [knee] is going to feel,” Curry said. “That’s been a struggle throughout the whole process. Even now. As good as I feel now, I hope it stays that way. It’s just a matter of getting out there and seeing.”

During the absence, Curry turned 38 in mid-March. He has one more season left on his current contract and has talked about wanting to keep his career going past that. He was asked whether this persistent knee injury was something he will need to manage the rest of his playing days.

“Yes and no,” Curry said. “There’s nothing structurally wrong with my knee. So it’s not like I’m compromised out there. It is a new normal, though, if that makes sense.”

Curry said this was a different experience than any of his past ankle, knee or tailbone injuries because there was no defined timeline and he couldn’t push through it or be on the court while it is still in the late stages of healing.

Curry said he first figured he would return in mid-February after the All-Star break. He later wanted to return for a March road trip out East. He also experienced a setback a couple of weeks ago in Atlanta when it had felt as if he was nearing a return.

“You’d start running and doing your normal [rehab] workout,” Curry said, describing the problem. “[Then] toward the end of however long the session was, you’d start to feel the pain creep back in and the next day it’d be awful. Played that song and dance so many times over the last two months.”

Curry returns to a Warriors team that tumbled down the standings without him, going 9-18 in his 27-game absence, planting Golden State as the firm 10th seed in the Western Conference with five games left.

As Curry said, it doesn’t matter much what the Warriors do in their final five regular-season games. They will be in the bottom side of the play-in bracket and will need to win two elimination games on the road against a mix of the Blazers, Clippers and Suns.

If they are able to pull that off, they’d push into the playoffs as the eighth seed and get a first-round series against either the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder or the red-hot San Antonio Spurs.

“Hopefully win two play-in games,” Curry said. “Then we can have another conversation.”

Curry said he never seriously considered shutting himself down for the season, and Warriors coach Steve Kerr reiterated that the franchise never approached him about it.

“He’s the greatest face of a franchise that I’ve ever seen,” Kerr said. “We owe it to our fans to give them the opportunity to watch Steph Curry play basketball this year. And Steph doesn’t even think twice about that. That’s what he wants. That’s what we want. That’s what our fans want. So we’re going to do that.”

Scheffler, who tends to keep his golf separate from his home life, had not shared any information since withdrawing from the Houston Open two weeks ago because of the impending birth of his second child. He said wife Meredith gave birth to a boy on March 27. They named him Remy.

“We just liked it,” Scheffler said about the name.

His first son, Bennett, was born in 2024 before the PGA Championship.

“We didn’t have very many good boy names, to be honest with you,” he said.

There he was, in a stroller Meredith was pushing under the famous oak tree by the clubhouse, 9 days old and already at his first Masters.

It added to the sights rarely seen anywhere else on the Sunday before a major. That holds true with so much about the Masters.

Defending champion Rory McIlroy has been at the club all weekend, watching the Augusta National Women’s Amateur on Saturday and handing out trophies to a group of boys in the annual Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals on Sunday.

McIlroy has talked about how much he looked forward to returning as the Masters champion and enjoying all the perks that go with it. He was in his green jacket during the Drive, Chip and Putt, and posed with Maria José Marin, the ANWA winner and first Colombian to join the roll call of Augusta National winners.

Then he headed out to the golf course with his father, Gerry, and Augusta member Jimmy Dunne. Next up is the Masters Club dinner Tuesday and the elaborate menu he has put together.

“It is the most exclusive dinner club in all of sport, and I think we should all feel very fortunate that we are there,” he told Golf Channel after his part in the trophy presentation Sunday. “But we’re there because of the hard work and the good play that we’ve been able to produce.”

He also mentioned two players who won’t be at the dinner — Tiger Woods, arrested and briefly jailed for suspicion of driving under the influence during a March 27 car crash, and Phil Mickelson, who is tending to a personal health matter at home.

“Unfortunately, there will be a couple of guys that won’t be in that room, which is a shame, but I want to make sure that they’re acknowledged as well,” McIlroy said. “They’ve been two of the greatest champions that the Masters has ever seen. But it’s going to be a really cool night. I can’t wait. I hope everyone enjoys the dinner and enjoys everything that I’ve selected.”

Bryson DeChambeau teed off Sunday by himself after the DC&P was over, walking to slap hands and pose for photos with kids and spectators some 100 yards down the right side of the tee.

“I’ve got to go play,” he told them before running to catch up with his caddie. There are exceptions for running at Augusta National.

Also there was Gary Player, the three-time Masters champion who will be hitting the honorary tee shot Thursday. The Black Night was on the putting green as the Boys 7-9 division was preparing for its putting competition on the 18th green.

There was 8-year-old Landyn Kelly from Henderson, Nevada, rapping 40-foot putts toward the hole with 90-year-old Player watching with amazement.

“What a touch! What a touch he has, man!” Player exclaimed.

Scheffler took this Sunday to play with Blake Smith, his longtime manager, who had never played Augusta National. Scheffler and McIlroy are fighting some history this week. Adam Scott in 2013 is the last player to win the Masters after having three weeks off.

“I’ve been practicing,” Scheffler said. “I’ve been able to do a good amount at home.”