AUGUSTA, Ga. — Scottie Scheffler has been stating his declare because the No. 1 participant on the planet for 3 years. Sunday, Scheffler declared himself the dominant power of his period.
Scheffler, 27, gained the Masters by 4 strokes over a star-studded leaderboard for his second inexperienced jacket in three years. He turns into the fourth-youngest golfer to win the Masters twice, following Jack Nicklaus, Seve Ballesteros and Tiger Woods. He joins Nicklaus and Woods as the one three gamers with two Gamers Championship wins and two inexperienced jackets.
For a while on a picture-perfect Sunday afternoon at Augusta Nationwide, it appeared an all-time race for the Masters championship was coming into kind. The 4 males enjoying within the final two teams — Scheffler, Collin Morikawa, Max Homa and Ludvig Åberg — had been all tied at 6-under at one level on the entrance 9.
However then Scheffler, who shot a final-round 68, put his foot down, and everybody else obtained out of the best way.
As he stood within the fairway on the ninth gap, Scheffler unfurled a shot so good it’ll have an opportunity to change into a part of Masters lore — hitting it simply excessive of the flag stick from 89 yards away and watching it spin again to 6 inches. A foot away from the opening, it regarded prefer it was rolling in for eagle, patrons leaping out of their chairs in anticipation. He “settled” for birdie and took the lead at 8-under.
Scheffler then birdied the par-4 tenth, a gap he had double-bogeyed on Saturday, to get to a two-stroke lead over Homa and Åberg.
Morikawa, enjoying with Scheffler, was the primary to drop from competition. He doubled-bogey the ninth gap, parred the tenth after which put his second shot within the water on No. 11, venting his frustration as he watched the Masters slip from his grasp with a second double bogey.
Åberg was subsequent, additionally discovering the water on Augusta Nationwide’s treacherous eleventh gap and scoring a double bogey to drop 4 pictures behind Scheffler.
Final was Homa, nonetheless inside attain of Scheffler till his tee shot on the par-3 twelfth flew the inexperienced, took a nasty bounce into the greenery on the hill behind it, and compelled Homa to take an unplayable lie penalty. He had a double bogey after a poor chip, and was three pictures behind even after Scheffler’s bogey on No. 11, his second of the day.
From there it turned clear there may solely be one, Scheffler including birdies on holes Nos. 13, 14 and 16 to maintain the remainder of the sphere hopelessly chasing. Åberg completed second (7-under) in his first Masters look, adopted by Morikawa, Homa and Tommy Fleetwood (tied at 4-under).
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Patrons react to Scottie Scheffler’s birdie on No. 16. (Jamie Squire / Getty Pictures)
Two years in the past Scottie Scheffler held a three-stroke lead the morning of the Masters and broke down in his spouse Meredith’s arms, confiding in her that he didn’t really feel prepared for what was about to come back. He was. He’s, although he didn’t have Meredith with him this week, as she stayed behind at their house in Dallas to await the start of their first little one. Scheffler had promised to withdraw from the match ought to she go into labor (she’s due later this month). It wasn’t mandatory. Nothing was stopping him from this Masters win.
He now has 9 PGA Tour wins with two majors, compiling a resume of excellence unmatched this decade. These 9 wins embrace two Masters, two Gamers Championships, two Arnold Palmers Invitationals, two Phoenix Opens and a WGC match play win. However possibly extra telling has been Scheffler’s unprecedented consistency. He’s performed 15 majors as a tour participant, and he’s been high 25 in all however one. He’s been high 10 in 10 of them. The final time he completed an expert match exterior the highest 31 was in October 2022.
Scheffler’s been world No. 1 for 83 of the final 107 weeks, and his win Sunday additional solidifies the assumption that no person is reaching him any time quickly. The one query left for Scheffler was if he may stabilize his placing to make sure he added extra majors and had a trophy room to match his particular degree. Now, he’s on a four-event run of profitable the Gamers, the Arnold Palmer and the Masters as 4-to-1 favourite.
Immediately, the query is just not whether or not Scheffler can actually function like golf’s largest star. It’s if anybody can cease him.
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(Picture: Andrew Redington / through Getty Pictures)
