- By Jonathan Jurejko
- ` Sport
April 15, 2024
Updated 2 hours ago
video caption, Masters 2024: The moment Scottie Scheffler won the title at Augusta National
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Final leaderboard of the Masters 2024 |
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-11 Scheffler (USA); -7 Aberg (Switzerland); -4 Morikawa (USA), Homa (USA), Fleetwood (Eng); -2 DeChambeau (USA), Smith (Aus) |
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Selected others: Level Hatton (Eng), +4 McIlroy (NI), Fitzpatrick (Eng); +9 Rahm (Spa), Willett (Eng); +16 Woods (USA) |
World number one Scottie Scheffler won the Masters for the second time after showing why he was the absolute favorite going into the tournament with a commanding performance at Augusta National.
Scheffler, who led by one shot overnight, shot a four-under 68 in Sunday's final round and finished four points ahead at 11-under.
Swede Ludvig Aberg scored 69 points and finished second on his big debut.
The Englishman Tommy Fleetwood (69) came third together with the Americans Collin Morikawa (74) and Max Homa (73).
Fleetwood put together an impressive round to catapult himself late onto the leaderboard and record his best result at the Masters.
But catching up with Scheffler was out of reach. The 27-year-old American showed rare emotion on the 18th green as he received applause from the Augusta crowd after claiming his second Masters victory in three years.
There was a chance the 2022 champions wouldn't even make the finals.
Scheffler's wife, Meredith, is due to give birth to their first child, and the Texan said Saturday he was prepared to leave Augusta mid-round if she went into labor on Sunday.
Scheffler turned to his wife during the Green Jacket award ceremony and said, “I love you and I’m coming home.” I’ll be home as soon as possible.”
He added: “I can't put into words what it will be like to win here again and what it will be like to become a father for the first time.”
Scheffler justifies his reputation while his rivals falter
Since Tiger Woods dominated golf in the 2000s, no one has come to Augusta as the favorite more than Scheffler.
After two wins in his three previous tournaments – the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Players Championship – and a second place finish at the Houston Open, he made it to the first major of the year.
This confident form, combined with his pedigree as a former Masters champion, meant his odds were just 4-1 heading into the week.
Although he did not reach the expected highs over the first three days, particularly during an eventful lap on Saturday in which he recovered from several mistakes, he still led by one heading into Sunday.
However, he lacked distance control with his irons in the opening holes and a bogey on the seventh dropped him alongside Morikawa and Aberg. After a birdie on the eighth day of play, Homa joined them at a four-way tie and took the lead.
But Scheffler – who played with Morikawa in the group behind Aberg and Homa – birdied the same hole and led again at seven under.
Then came a moment of magic that felt like a potential turning point – and turned out to be one.
Scheffler nearly potted a great 89-yard drive in the ninth, showing his supreme skill in turning the ball and using Augusta's contours to roll it toward the marker, leaving him with a tap-in for consecutive birdies.
video caption, Masters 2024: Scottie Scheffler hits the ball of the tournament with nine shots
Scheffler added a third straight birdie on the 10th, but as the leaders approached Amen Corner – the famous section of the course with the 11th, 12th and 13th holes – it was still too close to call .
But when he teed off on short 12th place, it was his tournament he had lost.
His nearest rivals – Aberg, Morikawa and Homa – all made costly double bogeys in about 15 minutes, giving Scheffler a three-shot lead despite making bogey on the 11th.
Aberg and Morikawa both dragged their approaches into the water on the 11th, while Homa ended up in the bushes after a poor jump on the iconic par-3 12th and suffered a one-shot penalty.
From then on, Scheffler was able to relax more and birdies on the 13th, 14th and 16th almost secured the victory.
Aberg's hopes of becoming the third man to win in his first start in a major were over, but he finished second after recovering with birdies on the 13th and 14th.
The composed 24-year-old, who turned pro just 10 months ago, was described as a “generational talent” by European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald before helping Europe to victory against the USA in Rome last September.
He is admired for his clean ball-striking and showed this weekend why he is expected to contend for the majors on a regular basis.
Fleetwood beams as McIlroy sees another chance
The progress of the players from Great Britain and Northern Ireland was rather disappointing, but the 33-year-old Fleetwood remained patient and was rewarded with a top 10 finish.
In fact, Fleetwood needed a better round to seriously compete, but he played solidly, leaving him optimistic for next month's US PGA Championship in Valhalla.
“I guess I needed a few more fireworks. But the golf course didn’t offer much,” said Fleetwood, making his eighth Masters appearance.
“Who knows if my time will ever come, but all I can do is keep trying to get myself there and achieve performances like this.”
Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy failed to finish in full swing as his 10-year wait for a major title failure continues.
The 34-year-old won four majors between 2011 and 2014 – the PGA Championship twice, as well as the Open Championship and the US Open – but was never in contention as he appeared to become only the sixth man to complete the Grand Slam of his career.
McIlroy struggled in the testing conditions as he started with rounds of 71, 77 and 71 and ended up scoring 73 to finish well behind by four overs.
“It wasn’t my year, but I’ll keep coming back until it is my year,” he said.
England's Tyrrell Hatton was level after 69 on the final day of play, while Matt Fitzpatrick finished with four overs and 2016 champion Danny Willett, playing his first tournament since shoulder surgery in September, eased off after a good start to finish with nine overs came to the finish.
Woods and Rahm struggle despite support
Five-time Masters champion Tiger Woods finished last of the 60 players who made it to all four rounds, shooting five-over 77 for a total of 16 overs.
Just taking part in the weekend was a success for the 15-time champion, who had barely played in the past year as he continues to recover from injuries sustained in a car accident in February 2021.
However, packed galleries followed Woods around the scene of some of his most famous triumphs, with visitors cheering him on from the final green and hoping they would get many more chances to see the 48-year-old at Augusta in the future.
Defending champion Jon Rahm was already out of contention and things got worse when he posted his highest point total in eight Masters appearances.
The 29-year-old Spaniard, who has made a surprise move to the breakaway LIV Golf Tour since winning last year, hit a 76 to finish the game in nine overs.
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