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Mark Schlabach, ESPN Senior Author
AUGUSTA, Ga. — A victory on the 2024 Masters appeared inevitable for Scottie Scheffler.
The Texan has been ranked No. 1 on this planet for greater than 80 weeks throughout his quick profession. He’d received eight instances on the PGA Tour since February 2022, a stretch that noticed him turn into the primary golfer ever to win the Gamers Championship in back-to-back years.
Scheffler is considered maybe golf’s greatest ball striker since Tiger Woods in his prime, and Scheffler’s magical palms across the greens even have drawn comparability to you-know-who.
Till Sunday, Scheffler had just one main championship victory, the 2022 Masters, which could have been the one motive anybody would doubt his standing as the sport’s subsequent generational star.
After coming into Sunday’s ultimate spherical of the 88th Masters at Augusta Nationwide Golf Membership main by 1 shot, Scheffler ran away from the opposite contenders on the second 9 to win a second inexperienced jacket in three years.
Scheffler carded a 4-under 68 over the ultimate 18 holes to complete at 11 below for the event and beat Sweden’s Ludvig Åberg by 4 strokes. Aberg, who was an beginner at Texas Tech a 12 months in the past, was making an attempt to turn into the primary golfer to win the Masters in his debut since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979. Aberg posted a 3-under 69 within the ultimate spherical.
Max Homa, Collin Morikawa and Tommy Fleetwood tied for third at 4 below.
“I really feel like I am taking part in actually good golf proper now,” Scheffler mentioned. “I really feel like I am answerable for my feelings as I’ve ever been, which is an effective place to be. I really feel like I am maturing as an individual on the golf course, which is an effective place to be.
“I feel it is onerous to argue with the outcomes of the previous couple of weeks. I have been taking part in some good golf. However I actually attempt to not focus an excessive amount of on the previous.”
At 27, Scheffler grew to become the fourth-youngest golfer to win a number of inexperienced jackets; solely Jack Nicklaus (25 years, 81 days), Woods (25 years, 100 days) and Seve Ballesteros (26 years, 2 days) had been youthful.
Scheffler claimed his second Masters title in solely his fifth begin at Augusta Nationwide, which is the second-fewest begins wanted to perform the feat within the event’s historical past. Horton Smith received two of the primary three Masters, in 1934 and 1936.
Scheffler additionally grew to become solely the fifth golfer in Masters historical past to win a number of inexperienced jackets by 3 strokes or extra, becoming a member of Woods (1997 and 2002), Ballesteros (1980 and 1983), Nicklaus (1965 and 1972) and Sam Snead (1949 and 1952).
“Clearly, Scottie is an unbelievable golf participant, and I feel all of us anticipate him to be there when it comes all the way down to the final couple holes of a event,” Aberg mentioned. “He is confirmed it many times, and I feel he makes us higher. He makes you wish to beat him, clearly, and that is the identical for me and the identical for everybody else on this subject.”
Prior to now 35 days, Scheffler has received 3 times in opposition to elite fields on the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the Gamers and now the Masters.
“I am simply pinching myself actually,” mentioned Scheffler’s caddie, Ted Scott. “I do not actually know what I am seeing. The man is particular. He is a special form of particular. I feel we’re all seeing it, and we’re all questioning, ‘The place did this come from?'”
What’s Scheffler doing so properly?
“What’s he not good at?” Scott mentioned. “I do not know. I feel his superpower is [that] folks which can be tremendous highly effective are good at all the pieces, and he appears to be good at all the pieces. He would not actually have a weak point. I feel folks created a weak point in his placing. He isn’t a weak putter. He is a great putter. He is an excellent putter.”
After his victory, Scheffler did not wait lengthy to FaceTime together with his spouse, Meredith, who watched the ultimate spherical at her aunt’s house in Dallas. Meredith Scheffler is anticipating the couple’s first youngster later this month. Scheffler mentioned he deliberate to fly house Sunday night time, then he is scheduled to play within the RBC Heritage at Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, beginning Thursday.
“I’ll go house, soak on this victory tonight,” Scheffler mentioned. “Will certainly benefit from the beginning of my first youngster. However with that being mentioned, I nonetheless love competing. My priorities will change right here very quickly. My son or daughter will now be the primary precedence, together with my spouse, so golf will now be in all probability fourth in line. However I nonetheless love competing. I do not plan on taking my eye off the ball anytime quickly, that is for certain.”
Scheffler mentioned he spent Sunday morning with pals and tried to take his thoughts off golf, which wasn’t straightforward. At one level, his neck began bothering him from the stress. He had battled a neck damage on the Gamers Championship in March.
The ultimate two pairings of Aberg-Homa and Scheffler-Morikawa made their solution to Amen Nook (gap Nos. 11 to 13) shortly earlier than 5 p.m. ET. By the point they left, solely considered one of them — Scheffler — nonetheless had a prayer to win.
Aberg made the primary large mistake when his sweeping shot from 216 yards went too far left and bounced right into a pond on the par-4 eleventh. He made a double-bogey 6 and fell 4 pictures behind Scheffler.
A short time later, Morikawa hit his method shot from practically the identical spot as Aberg. He yelled, “Rattling it,” after his ball took flight and watched it bounce into the pond. The outcome was his second double bogey in three holes — he could not get out of a greenside bunker on No. 9 on his first strive — as he fell 5 pictures behind Scheffler.
“Greed obtained the most effective of me,” Morikawa mentioned. “9, cannot miss it over there and might’t go away it within the bunker. Eleven, simply tried to hit too good of a shot. It is not like at that time I used to be attempting to press. I knew the place I stood. Yeah, it is simply cannot try this.”
Then on the twelfth gap, the place swirling winds, a slim inexperienced and the intimidating Rae’s Creek have spoiled many Masters hopefuls’ desires over time, Homa’s probabilities took a devastating blow. He did not hit a foul tee shot on the shortest par-3 on the course, however his ball leaped excessive off the sunbaked inexperienced and settled in vines on a financial institution.
After watching his ball bounce onerous off the inexperienced, Homa requested his caddie, Joe Greiner, “The place did it go?”
After a few minutes, Homa discovered it within the thick floor cowl, however he needed to take an unplayable lie and a 1-stroke penalty. His chip shot obtained caught up within the fringe, and he two-putted for a double-bogey 5 to drop to five below.
“The sincere reply is it did not really feel honest,” Homa mentioned. “I hit a extremely good golf shot, and it did not really feel honest. I’ve seen far worse simply roll again down the hill. Yeah, the skilled reply is these items occur.”
Scheffler made a bogey of his personal on the eleventh when he missed the inexperienced, chipped to 9 toes and missed a par putt. He performed it safely on the twelfth and made par.
Scheffler ended any doubts about successful once more when he made back-to-back birdies on Nos. 13 and 14. On the par-5 thirteenth, he reached the inexperienced in 2 pictures and two-putted for a birdie to maneuver to 9 below. Then on the par-4 14th, he spun his method shot to a foot and tapped in to go to 10 below.
“I didn’t ever let myself get connected to the lead,” Scheffler mentioned. “I simply tried to maintain pushing. I imply, I feel if I might have performed a little bit bit defensively it could have been a considerably completely different end. I went for the inexperienced in two on 13 [and] was in a position to make birdie. I attacked the pin on 14 and was in a position to make birdie. Went for it once more on 15 and made a pleasant par.”
“If I used to be simply attempting to make pars the entire again 9, I might have been standing on 18 having to make par and hoping Ludvig would solely make a par.”
Scheffler added one other birdie on the par-3 sixteenth, and what had appeared inevitable for thus lengthy was now actuality.