AUGUSTA, Ga. — Scottie Scheffler has declared himself the No. 1 player in the world for three years. On Sunday, Scheffler declared the dominant force of his era.
Scheffler, 27, won the Masters by four strokes against a star-studded field for his second green jacket in three years. He becomes the fourth youngest golfer to win the Masters twice, following Jack Nicklaus, Seve Ballesteros and Tiger Woods. He joins Nicklaus and Woods as the only three players with two Players Championship wins and two green jackets.
For a while, on a perfect Sunday afternoon at Augusta National, it looked like an all-time Masters Championship race was taking shape. The four men who played in the final two groups — Scheffler, Collin Morikawa, Max Homa and Ludvig Åberg — were all tied at 6-under at one point on the front nine.
But then Scheffler, who scored a final 68 of the round, put his foot down and everyone else got out of the way.
Standing in the fairway on the ninth hole, Scheffler hit a shot so good it will have a chance to become part of Masters lore — hitting it just high off the flagstick from 89 yards and watching it bounce back to within six inches. A foot from the hole, it looked like he was rolling for eagle, patrons jumping out of their chairs in anticipation. He settled for birdie and took the lead at 8-under.
Scheffler then birdied the par-4 10th, a hole he had double-boiled on Saturday, to take a two-stroke lead over Homa and Åberg.
Morikawa, playing with Scheffler, was the first to leave the fray. He double-bogeyed the 9th hole, birdied the 10th and then put his second shot in the water on No. 11, venting his frustration as he watched the Masters slip from his grasp with a second double bogey.
Åberg was next, also finding the water on Augusta National’s treacherous 11th hole and making a double bogey to drop four shots behind Scheffler.
Last was Homa, still close to Scheffler until his tee shot at the par-3 12th went over the green, made a nasty bounce on the green on the hill behind him and forced Homa into an unplayable lie penalty. He double-bogeyed after a bad chip and was three shots back even after Scheffler bogeyed No. 11, his second of the day.
From there it became clear that there could only be one, Scheffler adding birdies on holes Nos. 13, 14 and 16 to keep the rest of the field chasing desperately. Åberg finished second (7-under) in his first Masters appearance, followed 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 Images)
Two years ago Scottie Scheffler held a three-shot lead on the morning of the Masters and burst into the arms of his wife Meredith, confiding in her that he didn’t feel ready for what was to come. It was him. He is, even though he didn’t have Meredith with him this week as he stayed at their home in Dallas to await the birth of their first child. Scheffler had promised to withdraw from the tournament should she go into labor (reported later this month). It wasn’t necessary. Nothing was stopping him from this Masters victory.
He now has nine PGA Tour wins with two majors, compiling a resume of excellence unmatched this decade. Those nine wins include two Masters, two Players Championships, two Arnold Palmers Invitationals, two Phoenix Opens and one WGC match win. But perhaps more telling was Scheffler’s unprecedented consistency. He has played in 15 majors as a tour player and has been in the top 25 in all but one. It was top 10 in 10 of them. The last time a professional tournament finished outside the top 31 was in October 2022.
Scheffler has been No. 1 in the world for 83 of the past 107 weeks and his victory on Sunday further reinforces the belief that no one will catch him anytime soon. The only question remaining for Scheffler was whether he could stabilize his betting to ensure he would add more championships and have a trophy room to match his special level. Now, he’s on a four-game winning streak at the Players, Arnold Palmer and the Masters as a 4-to-1 favorite.
Suddenly, the question isn’t whether Scheffler can really work like golf’s biggest star. It is if anyone can stop him.
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(Photo: Andrew Redington/via Getty Images)
