If the Masters truly doesn’t begin until the back nine Sunday, then Scottie Scheffler won the Masters as soon as it began.
Scheffler, the World No. 1 and odds-on favorite to win the green jacket entering the week, stayed strong through one of golf’s most crucial stretches while others crumbled, ultimately lifting him to his second Masters title.
The 27-year-old broke out of a four-way tie for the lead at Augusta National with birdies at 8 and 9. Then at the dramatic dogleg left No. 10, he knocked his approach from 144 yards to just nine feet and poured in the putt to extend his lead to two.
Even with a bogey at 11, his lead still grew as the chasers wilted around him. By 18, he was cruising and finished at 11 under to win the Masters by four over Ludvig Aberg. It’s Scheffler’s second green jacket after earning his first just two years ago.
“It’s hard to put into words how special this is. It’s been a long week, a grind of a week,” he said. “The golf course was so challenging, and to be sitting here wearing this jacket again and getting to take it home is extremely special.”
His second Masters victory comes in just his fifth career start, the fastest to two wins since Horton Smith, who won two out of the first three Masters in 1934 and 1936. Quicker than Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Phil Mickelson. He becomes the 18th multiple-time Masters champ ever.
Scheffler, who closed with a four-under 68, looked like the best golfer in the field all week, despite not quite having his best ball-striking performance. He also played the whole week without his wife, Meredith, who is at home pregnant with the couple’s first child. Scheffler vowed to withdraw from the tournament to make it back home in time for the birth, if needed, a vow he reiterated multiple times throughout the week.
“I’m coming home. I’ll be home as quick as I can,” Scheffler said in Butler Cabin after the win. “It’s a very special time for both of us. I can’t put into words what it means to win this tournament again. I really can’t put into words what it’s going to be like to be a father for the first time. I’m looking forward to getting home and celebrating with Meredith. Its been a long week here without her, but I’m just looking forward to getting home.”
That seemed like the only thing that could have prevented Scheffler’s win.
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He led by one entering the final round, but after a bogey on the 7th had dropped into a four-way tie for the lead with his three closest pursuers: Aberg, Collin Morikawa and Max Homa.
That’s when Scheffler shifted into high gear.
He got up and down from just over the 8th green in two for a birdie, making a putt on top of Morikawa, who was inside him.
Then he produced the shot of the tournament on 9 to retake the outright lead. After hammering a driver 358 yards over the left trees and around the corner, Scheffler executed a perfect wedge from 89 yards that landed on the plateau just above the hole. From there, the ball spun back and curled toward the cup. Scheffler’s Titleist slid just below the hole and stopped within inches for a tap-in birdie.
“I hadn’t hit many good iron shots, which is a bit unusual for me,” said Scheffler, statistically the best ball-striker in professional golf over the past two years. “I had hit some good ones but they weren’t really ending up where they were supposed to. I had that bogey there on 7 and a nice birdie putt on 8, and going into No. 9 it was nice to get that feeling of hitting a really well-struck shot and then it set me up to have a really nice back nine.”
Scheffler just watched as his challengers fell behind him one-by-one.
First, it was Morikawa, who drove into the right trees at 9, punched into the left greenside bunker, then tried to get too cute with his sand shot and left it in the trap, leading to a double that took him from seven under to five. Then Scheffler birdied 10.
Aberg was next. The Masters — and major — rookie was playing like anything but one until he made the one mistake he couldn’t on 11. The 24-year-old took aim for the front left pin with his second at the Masters’ hardest hole and overcooked it into the pond short and left. Morikawa followed in the group behind, making another double.
Finally, Homa met his fate on 12. He looked to have played the smart shot to the left side of the narrow par-3 green. But it went a yard too far, kicked over the green and lodged in a bush beyond the back bunker. He took an unplayable and made double.
Meanwhile, Scheffler continued his methodical play. He made a conservative bogey at the 11th, playing well away from the pond. Split the bunkers at 12, leading to a par. Birdied 13 and 14.
By the time he appeared to take his first look at a leaderboard on 16, Scheffler was up by three. He poured in another putt at 16 for his seventh birdie of the day (sixth in the last nine holes) to extend his lead to four.
