AUGUSTA, Ga. — It's Scottie Scheffler's world, and we're all just living in it.
The world No. 1 golfer captured his second coveted green jacket at the Masters on Sunday by putting on a dominant finish, where he shot -11 and outlasted comeback bids by several golfers he led going into the final round and winning $3.24 million in the process.
Scheffler was -7 going into the day and led two-time major champion Collin Morikawa by one stroke, Max Homa by two strokes and rising star Ludvig Aberg by three strokes. At one point after the seventh hole, Scheffler was in a four-way tie for first at -6, and it appeared that things were going to get dicey on Sunday at the Masters.
Morikawa helped Scheffler out at the par-four ninth when he double-bogeyed coming up the hill at the end of the front nine. falling to -5. By the time the ball rolled around to venerable Amen Corner, it became evident that Scheffler's lead wasn't going to dwindle.
Scheffler birdied at Nos. 8, 9 and 10 to take a commanding lead at -9. He got some help from Aberg, who double bogeyed at No. 11, where Scheffler bogeyed to fall back to -8.
Before hole 11, the leaderboard looked like:
- Scheffler -9
- Homa -7
- Aberg -7
- Morikawa -5
After hole 11, the leaderboard looked like:
- Scheffler -8
- Homa -7
- Aberg -5
- Morikawa -5
Homa double-bogeyed No. 11, dropping him back to three strokes off the lead with Aberg and Morikawa.
Scheffler went on to birdie holes 13, 14 and 16 to finish at a commanding -11, where he would one-putt at No. 18 to win his second green jacket, a big relief from his four-putt in 2022 that dropped him to -10, albeit a still comfortable win.
It's Scheffler's second green jacket, and based on how he's playing now, it's almost impossible to think this will be his last. It's a run in golf right now that resembles the likes of Tiger Woods in his heyday, albeit he's still got a ways to go.
When he won in 2018, Scheffler didn't quite have the pressure he faced in the final round going into Sunday that he did this year.
"I think when I look at the tournament from two years ago, I built myself a lead on Friday afternoon and was able to -- cruise isn't really the right word for how it went over the weekend -- but I was just able to play with the lead and play comfortably, whereas this week I felt like I was battling the whole week," Scheffler said.
The gusting wind tormented players at Augusta National on Thursday and Friday, but it was on Friday that only one player shot in the 60s and only eight players shot under par.
"You know, you go out there on Thursday and it's so windy and was able to shoot a great score," Scheffler explained. "And then the next two days were really just a fight. I mean, I was fighting this golf course the last couple of days. I mean, I think it was Friday afternoon we went out -- I can't even describe to you how difficult the conditions were."
Despite the battle, Scheffler was able to keep his composure and hit the right shots when it mattered. As Tiger Woods does best at this course, Scheffler knew where to miss and, more importantly, when to miss.
It was Scheffler's third win of the season, adding to his wins already at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and THE PLAYERS Championship.
