Scotty Scheffler wins the 89th Masters

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AUGUSTA, Ga. – Scotty Scheffler took a page from golf's biggest icons and walked away from Augusta National on Sunday with little doubt that he has what it takes to one day join them.

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The 27-year-old Texas golfer gave a masterclass in ball-striking while running the course and had the nerves of a major championship to win the 88th Masters.

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“It's been a long week, a tough week,” Scheffler said at the winner's press conference. “The golf course was so tough, and to sit here again with this jacket and take it home is pretty special.”

Scheffler shot a final-round 4-over 68 at 11-under to beat Ludwig Aberg (-7) by four strokes. It's the world No. 1's second green jacket and second major championship and a performance that proves he stands alone in the golf world, even in a fractured golf landscape.

Tommy Fleetwood, Max Homa and Collin Morikawa finished fourth, seven shots, four under.

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Scheffler and wife Meredith are expecting their first child at any time, and the golfer said Saturday night that he was prepared to leave the tournament on Sunday if he got a call from his wife. Thanks, everyone involved didn't get that call.

“I'm coming home. I'm going to get home as fast as I can,” Scheffler said in a televised message from Butler Cabin to his wife during the green jacket ceremony. “I love you and I'm coming home.”

This year's Masters treated golf fans to everything Augusta National has to offer. The week started with the most beautiful course after a great early spring growing season. Two days after the start of the tournament, there were severe conditions that made it almost impossible. What followed was a sun-drenched Saturday that showed just how much damage a fiery Augusta can do to golfers. On Sunday, players saw a familiar layout of championship pins and somewhat milder conditions that allowed them to battle.

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That is, until they run into Scheffler.

“We put a lot of pieces of the puzzle together this week,” Morikawa said. “But after watching Scotty this week, I know (now) what I have to do if I really want to close that gap in terms of what he's doing and how impressive he's been playing.”

While his closest rivals fell victim to Augusta National's risk-reward nature or the course's intimidating aura, Scheffler called on Ben Hogan and seemed to borrow from Tiger Woods as he deftly navigated the famous Amen Corner.

With two of his closest rivals finding water on the green and tee shots approaching the 11th hole, Scheffler hit a conservative shot that went right but eliminated any danger of disaster.

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Fellow Texan Ben Hogan once said, “If you saw me split the 11th green, you'd know I missed my second shot.”

Over time and after some design changes, the strategies tended toward an aggressive philosophy, but Scheffler didn't plan on taking any chances, not with his opponents exploding around him. It would be Scheffler's only Sunday back nine, but he ensured the lead was safe when he left the green.

After one hole, on golf's most famous par-3, Scheffler borrowed a target over Tiger Woods' front bunker in 2019 to find the middle of the green, leaving a long but routine two-putt. In 2019, Tiger took control of the tournament at the beautiful Golden Bell as Francesco Molinari, Brooks Koepka and Ian Poulter hit the water. This year, Scheffler got it under control, then Homa airballed the putting surface for a double bogey.

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“It's hard to win on this golf course,” Scheffler said. “You can't play too defensively. A good example of holes like 12, if you play too defensively, like where the pin is today, you're trying to hit right over that bunker, right in the middle of the green.

“You can't sit there and play too defensively. You have to hit the right spots and hit really good golf shots. I did it the best I could today.''

In the end, it was a stress-free stroll down the fairway 18th, where he took a four-shot lead and the day's history became written history.

Scheffler's golf story is a work in progress, but the golfer says his life story is safe.

While rivals such as Bryson DeChambeau are known as high-energy, content oddball players, and Sunday opponent Homa is known as a social media savvy person, Scheffler is harder to pin down.

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On the surface, his personality seems perfect for backyard barbecues and raucous conversations about what you've been streaming lately, meaning he'll no doubt transition smoothly into fatherhood. Despite his suburban father persona, Scheffler is not a passionate man, but he is spiritual in nature, and several times throughout the week he found himself choking up while talking about his faith.

“I believe that today's plans were made many years ago and there was nothing I could do to disrupt those plans. I have been gifted with this talent and I will use it for God's pleasure. It’s a lot,” Scheffler said.

Scheffler isn't alone in golf or sports as someone who puts his spirituality first in his life, but it's a part of the athlete that often doesn't get into the story. Scheffler is determined to make sure that doesn't happen, saying this week that his faith is the No. 1 thing that defines him, not his golf game.

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“Winning this golf tournament is not going to change who I am,” he said. “My identity is secure, and I cannot stress this enough.”

When it comes to golf, the late, great golf writer Dan Jenkins first wrote that the Masters doesn't start until the back nine on Sunday. That famous line was as true as ever at this year's tournament, when at 4:30 p.m. the four-way score between Scheffler, Morikawa, Homa and Aberg was six under as the final groups were completed. the previous nine of them.

After an hour, Scheffler took a three-shot lead and never looked back.

Disaster struck for Scheffler's playing partner Morikawa first on the par-4 ninth hole, where the two-time major winner found sand in the pine straw and then made a double bogey after failing to get out of the bunker. Two holes later, the dagger came when Morikawa found water on the 11th hole, another victim of the Amen corner.

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Homa's hopes were also dead at Augusta's most famous location, or at least they were temporarily lost in the bushes. After looking for his ball on a pretty scary par-3, Homa hit an unplayable lie and made double bogey to drop three shots behind Scheffler to drop to five under.

Aberg, who played alongside Homa, was a Swede who played college golf in the US a year ago. Like Morikawa, Aberg found water on the 11th hole, made a double bogey and fell off the pace. Aberg, 24, was the only player in trouble with back-to-back birdies on 13 and 14.

But it was Scheffler's day and is looking more and more like Scheffler's era as the World No. 1 won two green jackets in three years and last month became the first player in history to win back-to-back Players Championship titles.

Scheffler's greens stats during this stretch rival those of the first Woods, and now that the ball-striking maestro has corrected his crooked footwork, he truly stands alone in the golf world.

“I'm going to go home and soak up this win tonight. “He will definitely be happy about the birth of my first child,” he said. “My priorities will change soon. My son or daughter will now be the main priority along with my wife.

“But I love racing. I don't plan on taking my eye off the ball anytime soon, that's for sure.”

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