Dominant Scottie Scheffler wins second Masters title in three years
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER WON his second Masters title with an ice-cool four stroke victory at Augusta National on Sunday.
Scheffler, the world number one and 2022 Masters winner, shot a final round four-under par 68 to end on 11-under for the tournament with Masters first-timer Ludvig Aberg of Sweden finishing runner-up.
It was a classic display of calmness and precision from Scheffler, who kept his focus after making bogies on the fourth and seventh holes to run away with the contest on the back nine.
Scheffler began the round with a one-shot lead over fellow American Collin Morikawa but the contest took a decisive turn on the ninth hole.
Morikawa double-bogeyed and Scheffler made birdie and the three-stroke swing left the 24-year-old Aberg his closest challenger after the turn.
But after Aberg double-bogeyed the 11th, the outcome was in Scheffler’s safe hands and the 27-year-old Texan made sure of victory with birdies on 13, 14 and 16.
The win is Scheffler’s third victory of the season coming after his wins at Bay Hill and the Players Championship last month.
Elsewhere, Rory McIlroy’s Masters pain goes on, his final round a one-over round of 73 leaving him in a tie for 22nd place, at plus-four for the tournament. He started slowly with a bogey on the first and a par on the par-five second, before finally catching form with birdies on eight and nine. Momentum then stalled with a bogey on 10 and worse was to come with a four-putt on the par-five 13th, where he took another bogey, but did birdie the final par-five, the 15th, set up with a delightful touch up the slope of the green having sent his approach shot too far. He then threw in one last bogey on the par-four 17th to complete another frustrating outing at Augusta National.
“I still have a little work to do on my game”, McIlroy told Sky after his round. “It hasn’t been my year this year, but I will keep coming back until it is my year. The game felt okay for the most part, I struggled on Friday. As conditions changed, the course got firm and tricky, so if you lose shots early on it’s hard to get them back.”
Shane Lowry signed for a two-over round of 74 at the end of what proved to be a deeply disappointing week, finishing in a tie for 43rd on eight-over par.
Lowry came into the Masters in good form, with two top-fives in his last three PGA Tour starts across which his approach play – the stat most rewarded around Augusta – was outstanding.
Unfortunately, Lowry’s putter deserted him on Augusta’s crisp greens: he ranked dead last for strokes gained putting among the 60 players to make the cut.
Any hope of gaining some Sunday momentum ended with a run of four straight bogeys on holes four through seven. He wrestled a shot back with a birdie on nine, but handed it back with a bogey on 10. He took another birdie on 14 – having holed out for eagle on the 14th fairway yesterday – and clawed another shot back with another birdie on the par-five 15th.
With reporting by Gavin Cooney
