Scottie Scheffler had won 3 of his last 5 tournaments and rose to number one in the world golf rankings heading into the weekend. But all of that was just a warmup for what would unfold at Augusta National.
The 25 year old can now add “major winner” to his ever expanding golf resume after winning the green jacket at the 2022 Masters. Scheffler shot a one under 71 on Sunday to card a -10 for the weekend, cruising to a three stroke victory over Rory McIlroy.
The University of Texas alum had long dreamed of competing at the Masters, but winning it seemed like a daunting task to the Longhorn standout. Fast forward a few years and Scheffler was not only competing, but dominating the competition at one of golf’s most iconic courses.
“If you’re going to choose a golf tournament to win, this would be the tournament,” Scheffler remarked. “You don’t know how many chances you’re going to get. And so having a chance — I had a 5-shot lead on Friday and then a 3-shot lead going into today — I don’t know if you get better opportunities than that. You don’t want to waste them.”
Heading up to the 18th green on Sunday, the 2020 PGA Rookie of the Year had a five stroke lead and finally allowed himself to break his laser focus to soak in the moment. A visibly emotional Scheffler proceeded to promptly 4 putt to finish off his remarkable weekend and claim the first major of his career.
Riding a hot streak that a golfer could only dream of, the recently crowned world number 1 has become only the 4th golfer in the last 50 years to win 4 events in a single season before April 30th. Scheffler joins David Duval, Tom Watson, and Johnny Miller in the exclusive club.
The native Texan’s run of success has impressed even seasoned veterans on Tour, as his fellow competitors were quick to sing his praises following the win. ”You get on those hot streaks, and you just got to ride them out because they, unfortunately, don’t last forever,” Justin Thomas said. “But he is doing it in the biggest tournaments. … It’s really, really impressive to see someone that young handle a moment this big so easily.”
Adding to his exploits, Scheffler also became only the second player in PGA history to win 4 events, a major, and a WGC event in the same season. However he still has a ways to go to catch the other member of the club as Tiger Woods accomplished the feat 8 times between 1999 and 2008.
For his efforts Scheffler takes home $2.7M from the tournament’s purse, bringing his season total to nearly $9M in 2022 alone. Rounding out the top 5 at the event were McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Cameron Smith, and Collin Morikawa.
The Tour heads to Harbour Town Golf Links next weekend for the RBC Heritage, April 14-17th.
Photo: pocketwiley. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.