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AUGUSTA, Ga. — It would be understandable if Scottie Scheffler, the best example of balance as he climbed to #1 in men’s golf this year, was feeling a little nervous in the first hour of Sunday’s final round. Masters Tournament. As the day began, his three-shot advantage over his closest follower, Cameron Smith, was reduced to one hit on the opening two holes.
Worse still for Scheffler, on the par-4 third hole, he pulled his shirt into the trees and then rolled the ball back to a risky spot below the court surface, failing to take a step onto the raised green.
Does it only take three holes for Smith to catch Scheffler? Was Scheffler, with his ordinary composure, about to fade under pressure with ordinary indifference?
Anyone paying attention to this year’s PGA Tour, a circuit that Scheffler has dominated since February, could only guess what would happen next. Scheffler took a bold and aggressive demeanor and confidently threw a chip into the hole for the bird. Smith would do the bogeyman.
Over the next few hours, the 25-year-old Scheffler equally resolutely turned down every challenge to claim his first major title and fled to win the 2022 Masters by three strokes. The margin of victory could have been greater, but if it had been the final show of some nerves during the closing sequence of the tournament on the 18th green, when Scheffler needed four hits, three of which were less than five feet, to close a round of 71. Scheffler finished. In just the third Masters game, he’s 10 points below the tournament.
Rory McIlroy, who left Scheffler behind by 10 strokes on the way to the final round, finished second after scoring 64 (-8). Smith and Shane Lowry tied for third, by five strokes.
For Scheffler, a New Jersey native who grew up in Texas, it was his fourth-round victory in his last six events, a stunning win percentage in a sport with tournament fields of more than 100 players.
In February, Scheffler won the Phoenix Open. A few weeks later, he finished first. Arnold Palmer Invitation and won a World Golf Championship Match Game event late last month. From the first win, it took just 42 days for Scheffler to rise to #1.
Despite his recent successes, Scheffler has remained unknown to casual sports fans as he hasn’t won a touring event before this year. But last season there were signs that Scheffler was starting to find his rhythm at the high end of men’s competitive golf. He finished eighth at the British Open, seventh at the US Open, and eighth at the PGA Championship in the final three majors of that season.
Scheffler, like Smith, the new generation young golfers Who are the frequent tour winners. The top seven golfers in the men’s world golf rankings are 30 or younger.
McIlroy, who has won every major golf championship with the exception of the Masters, was not expected to be a part of the late-season feats on Sunday. He broke par in only one of his first three rounds. But with the birds on two of his first three holes, McIlroy suddenly looked more comfortable than he did in the final laps at the Masters. He hit four out of 32 on his first nine holes, then roared into the back nine with birds on the 10th hole and an eagle on the 13th hole, which put him in par six – just four strokes behind Scheffler. Several bands were playing behind McIlroy.
McIlroy continued his hot streak with three consecutive pars, but failed to capitalize on the par-5 15th hole, which is usually reachable in two hits. Instead, McIlroy even scored on the 16th and 17th holes, with a score he also made.
But McIlroy had one last and unexpected success. He sent the approach shot to the 18th green to a bunker to his right, but then threw a splash of sand onto the ground and watched the ball travel through a ditch across the green and eventually sink into the glass for a bird.
With little to celebrate in the closing moments of a Masters, McIlroy swung his wedge into the sand and put both arms over his head.
Moments after McIlroy took the bunker kick, his playmate Collin Morikawa burst from the same danger and dropped his shot. The two left the green area arm in arm.
As McIlroy rose, Smith also took another run on Scheffler with a bird on the 11th hole, keeping Scheffler’s lead three innings. Next up was the important and demonic par-3 12th hole; it is here that the tournament is often decided and was where tournament leaders for decades saw their dreams of championships drown in the small but dangerous danger of water in the pit.
Smith had honors in the tee he rose before Scheffler. He seemed eager to apply pressure. But Smith’s 9-iron quickly faded from the stick and was caught in the indecisive winds swirling around Amen’s Corner. Smith bowed his head in disappointment as the golf ball fell into Rae’s Creek in front of the green—the most common spot for a failed 12th hole tee to the right of the Flag on a tense Masters Sunday.
Scheffler missed the green, but kept his shirt dry and then disintegrated within 10 feet before sinking a tense par hit. Smith made a triple bogey and slid pretty low on the leaderboard. Scheffler then went ahead of Smith and McIlroy with a bird on the 14th hole with a spectacular approach shot. Then, on the par-5 15th hole, Scheffler fired his second shot around a pine grove to clear the pond in front of the green and create a final bird.
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