Scottie Scheffler wins the masters for a second time in three years
Scheffler took a one-shot lead on -7 into Sunday’s final round. Scheffler played in the final group with his nearest challenger -6 Collin Morikawa. World number one played holes one to three in -1 due to multiple up and downs. Scheffler made his second bogey of day four at the seventh hole and dropped back to -6. This years Masters was Ludvig Aberg’s first time to play Augusta. Aberg started day four -4.
The Swedish star played in the second last group with Max Homa -5. Aberg’s front nine of -3 included holing an amazing long-range birdie putt at the ninth hole. Morikawa made his first birdie of day four at eight to reach -7 after an excellent up and down from 107 yards. Homa reached -6 due to playing the front nine in -1. Scheffler hit a sensational second shot from 102 yards to tap in distance at nine and took a one-shot lead on -8 over Aberg -7 to 10th tee.
Homa advanced to -7 with a birdie at the difficult 10th hole. 2022 Masters champion stretched his lead at the top of leaderboard to two shots as a birdie at 10 was good enough to reach -9. Aberg made his first mistake of the tournament at 11 as his second shot found a penalty area and resulted in a double bogey. Homa pulled his tee shot left at 12 and had to settle for a disappointing double bogey. Morikawa’s chances of winning came to an end due to playing holes nine to 11 in +4. Scheffler showed why he is world number one with playing holes 13 to 15 in -2 to reach -10.
Aberg kept his chances of a win alive due to two birdies in a row at 13 and 14 to return -7. Aberg missed the fairway at the par five 15th and had to settle for a disappointing par. Scheffler put one hand in the jacket with a birdie at 16 to reach -11. The Swedish star finished second -7 due to an under-par round of 69. Two pars at 17 and 18 was good enough for Scheffler to win his second Masters. Scheffler received prize money of $12.1 million for his three wins at Bay Hill, Sawgrass and Augusta.
Tommy Fleetwood started day four -1 and shot an impressive round of 69. Fleetwood finished tied third on -4 and a great performance from the Englishman considering he was without his caddie Ian Finnis. Homa and Morikawa shot over par rounds to finish alongside Fleetwood -4 tied third. Day one leader -7 Bryson DeChambeau followed up his 65 with three rounds in the 70s to finish tied sixth on -2. The highlight of Cameron Smith’s round was an eagle at two and Australian -2 finished alongside DeChambeau in tied sixth. Xander Schauffele -1 finished eight and Tyrrell Hatton, Cameron Young, Will Zalatoris made up the top 10 on level par.
The Northern Irishman shot a disappointing round of 73 to finish tied 22nd on +4. McIlroy struggled to move up the leaderboard at Augusta especially in playing 16 par 5s in a disappointing -3. The Northern Irishman will have to wait until 2025 for another grand slam attempt at Augusta. The PGA Championship in May is at Valhalla and this is the venue were McIlroy won his last major. Shane Lowry shot a final round of 74 and finished tied 43rd on +8. Five-time Masters champion Tiger Woods unfortunately finished +16.