On the one hand, Masters weekend had the feel of an old-school Southwest Conference battle royale with Texas, Texas Tech and SMU sharing the ring and fighting for the big prize. On the other hand, Scottie Scheffler’s name was at or near the top of the leaderboard from late Thursday afternoon right up through the 72nd hole, and there was never a sense that anyone but the world’s greatest golfer was about to capture the Green Jacket.
You had SMU’s Bryson DeChambeau, one of the many LIV defectors, flying out of the gate with a 65 Thursday, and while he never shot even par on another round, he still managed to tie for sixth at 2 under par. Scheffler’s only true competitor down the stretch was the best golfer of the weekend, Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg, by way of Texas Tech. He was actually 8 under par the last three rounds, smiling all the way in his first major championship. But having spotted Scheffler seven shots on Thursday, he finished four back, alone in second place.
Like Scheffler, who won a Ryder Cup before winning his first PGA Tour event, the 24-year-old Aberg with the long, straight drives will be heard from in many more major events. But the best golfer on the planet — and it’s not close — is Highland Park’s Scheffler, who became the first man to win two of his first five Masters since Horton Smith won the first and third tournaments ever played.
Scheffler, who smiles readily off the course, suppressed his emotions all day until hugging his parents and Royal Oaks Country Club pro Randy Smith, his teacher of two decades, after the round. As Scheffler ran off an amazing string of six birdies in nine holes between the 8th and 16th greens, his fist bumps turned to subtle waves down to nothing. When his birdie attempt on 17 just shaved the hole, I was afraid had it fallen, he might have lay down and gone to sleep.
Scheffler won this Masters by four over Aberg, and he won it by three two years ago over Rory McIlroy when he had just become the No. 1 golfer in the world. For then, it felt like the temporary title that it generally is unless someone named Tiger Woods has it attached to his name. For now, especially with Jon Rahm having joined the LIV defectors and being wholly ineffective as most of them were at Augusta, there’s no reason Scheffler won’t be the No. 1 golfer for countless weeks over the next 5-to-10 years.
The only difference between this week and 2022 is that Scheffler has found comfort in being the very best at his craft. “Starting in 2022, I hadn’t won a tournament on tour. I had had a great Ryder Cup but I hadn’t won. All of a sudden, I won Phoenix, the Match Play (in Austin) and Bay Hill (the Arnold Palmer Invitational) and I was ranked No. 1 in the world,’’ he said. “Meredith and I felt our world changing at a rapid pace.’’
Now his world will change only when his wife gives birth in roughly two weeks. But there’s little new about his golf game other than he hits straighter drives than he did in 2022 when his huge power fades occasionally slipped into slices and caused trouble. His putting was solid at Augusta, and any time that’s the case, it’s the field that is in trouble. Driving distance, driving efficiency, irons into greens — Scheffler stays in the top five of those categories.
Still, it looked like it might be a fight Sunday when there was a four-way tie between Scheffler, Aberg, Max Homa and Collin Morikawa through seven holes. Almost on cue, one by one, the competitors opened the door for Scottie. Morikawa made double bogey at 9, Aberg put one in the drink at 11 for a double bogey and Homa flew the green at 12 for an unplayable lie that turned into a double as well. With just a sliver of an opening, Scheffler’s birdie binge allowed him to coast to victory.
The win was no surprise. Scheffler became the first golfer to go back-to-back with Players Championship wins last month and won again at Bay Hill. In fact, his last six tournaments look like this: T-6, T-3, 1, 1, T-2, 1.
Everyone suffers when they get compared to Tiger Woods, historically, but no one else has been making runs like Scottie’s since Woods was at his peak.
Texans winning Green Jackets is nothing new, but the names can change quickly. Jordan Spieth won the Masters as a 21-year-old in 2015, and he has three major championships to his credit. He normally competes at Augusta, but the only time we saw him this weekend was when he was taking calls from Ben Stiller. Spieth’s 9-over-par through 36 holes did not come close to making the cut.
He had his day, but it’s Scheffler’s time now. The only surprise will be if he doesn’t add a PGA, a US or British Open title to his resume later this year. He’s got the game, and he’s certainly found a way to push out the distractions. Scheffler walking the fairways and looking at his shoes or talking quietly with his caddie after birdies were common sights at the 88th Masters.
”I do my best to stay in my world,’’ Scheffler explained.
On the golf course, there’s no one else in it.
Twitter/X: @TimCowlishaw
