The last doubts have also been dispelled: Scottie Scheffler is by far the best golfer in the world. On Sunday, the 27-year-old professional from Dallas won the Masters tournament by four strokes ahead of the Swede Ludvig Åberg (69/281) after a brilliant final round of 68 and a total of 277 strokes (11 under par). The Englishman Tommy Fleetwood (69/284) and the Americans Collin Morikawa (74/284) and Max Homa (73/284) shared third place, seven shots behind. At the 88th edition of the first major of the year in Augusta (Georgia), the world number one confidently secured the green winner’s jacket for the second time after 2022 on Sunday. The Spanish defending champion Jon Rahm, who, as usual, handed over golf’s most important piece of clothing to his successor in the Butler Cabin, finished twenty shots behind in 45th place.
Scheffler received prize money of 3.6 million dollars (almost 3.4 million euros) for his third win of the season. He took in more than $15 million (around €14 million) from nine tournaments this year. The new master champion triumphed for the third time in his last four tournaments, a fantastic result. Only at the Houston Open two weeks ago did he have to settle for second place, one shot behind Bayer Stephan Jäger, who failed to make the cut on Friday. In the world rankings, Scheffler set himself far ahead of the competition with his tenth tournament victory of his career and is as clearly ahead as only Tiger Woods had achieved before him.
Four strokes ahead of the last hole
Scheffler, who entered the final round with a one-shot lead over his teammates Morikawa and Homa, stormed to the top alone after a somewhat bumpy start with three birdies on holes 8, 9 and 10. He never gave up this position and led so clearly that he was four shots ahead of the last hole and was able to have the fans celebrating on the way to the 18th green. When the dominant victory was finally certain, Scheffler threw up his arms, shouted “Woooo” loudly and clenched his fists. He then hugged his caddy Ted Scott, his two sisters, his parents and his coach Randy Smith.
On Sunday, when the wind was hardly noticeable and the sun caused the temperature to rise to 30 degrees, meaning that the external conditions had the least influence on the game in contrast to the first three days, only the star from Texas showed steely nerves. The industry leader particularly shone with his distance control. “I hit the ball harder and longer because the fairways are wide here. In Augusta you don’t have to hit the ball far, but on the right parts of the green. But the most important thing was my short game,” said Scheffler, explaining his renewed dominance . His pursuers, his teammates Morikawa and Åberg and Homa, who started before him, all made mistakes with double bogeys, while Scheffler separated himself from the competition with further birdies on the 13th, 14th and 16th holes.
Only Åberg recovered from his mishap. The 23-year-old Scandinavian then proved why he is ranked ninth in the world, even though he only turned professional in June of the previous year. But in these almost eight months as a professional, Åberg has also recognized who is currently calling the shots in golf: “Scottie is an incredible golfer and we all know what to expect from him in the final holes, that he is right at the front. He’s proven that time and time again,” said Åberg.
But for the new Masters champion, his focus in the next few days and weeks will be on his heavily pregnant wife Meredith, who is expecting their first child at the end of the month. “I can’t wait to get back home to Meredith,” said Scheffler, “this win is very special. I can’t put into words what it means to me.”
While Scheffler excelled, Woods experienced a low point. The 48-year-old superstar finished last among the sixty players who made the cut. Worse still: after a final round of 77 and a total of 304 strokes (16 over par), he delivered the worst result of his entire career.
