Scottie is the Master at Augusta
The 2022 US Masters was highly anticipated as it was the first men’s golf major of 2022. The first talking point in the build up was the decision to exclude Phil Mickelson from participating in the 2022 US Masters due to his involvement in the potential breakaway Super Golf League. As it grew closer to the second week in April there was a lot of talk about 15 major winner and five-time Masters champion Tiger Woods potentially participating in the 2022 US Masters. Cameron Smith made a statement of intent by winning The Players at Sawgrass in March which is one of the biggest tournaments on the PGA Tour and there was a lot of expectation on Smith before the 2022 US Masters began. Scottie Scheffler went to world number one with winning his third tournament in five starts at the WGC Dell Matchplay just two weeks before the 2022 US Masters.
The Tuesday before the 2022 US Masters started was a big day as Tiger Woods confirmed that he would be playing in the 2022 US Masters. This was good for the likes of Rory McIlroy regarding his grand slam attempt and Scottie Scheffler been world number one because all the talk was about Tiger in the build up to the first day of the 2022 US Masters. The first day began with the course playing difficult due to a tricky wind. Tiger was remarkable on day one as he played his first round of professional golf in 508 days. Tiger shot a round of one under in the first round and this is a contender for the best round of 2022 so far as he didn’t play any rounds or tournaments in the run up to the Masters. Scottie Scheffler continued his solid performances with an opening round of three under. Rory struggled with difficult conditions and ended one over after the first day. The 2020 Masters runner up Cameron Smith was incredible on day one as he had eight birdies in his round of 68. Sung Jae Im took a narrow lead into day one after he shot a round of 67 on day one.
Day two proved to be more difficult as there was a persistent strong breeze playing havoc with the players. Shane Lowry was really impressive with four under round of 68 on day two. The 2011 US Masters champion Charl Schwartzel rolled back the years as he was three under after round two. 2021 Us Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama still had a chance of going back to back as he was also three under going into the weekend. Rory McIlroy made a couple of late birdies to make the cut on two over. Scottie Scheffler seized the initiative on the back nine as he took five shot lead into the weekend. Scheffler round of five under on the second day was unbelievable considering the tough conditions that he was playing in.
Masters weekend is one of the biggest highlights in the sporting calendar every year. Saturday at the 2022 US Masters was difficult as there was very cool playing conditions. With ball not travelling as far in the cool it was tough to make birdies. Cameron Smith shot the best round on day three with a fantastic round of 68. Shane Lowry battled to be two under after day three. The shot of the day on day three was at the 10th hole when Charl Schwartzel holed his second shot for an eagle. After nine holes on day Scheffler was eleven under and it looked like he was going to have a big lead going into the final round. Scheffler got into trouble on the back nine and shot 38 which meant that he would finish on nine under after three rounds. Scheffler would have a three shot lead over Smith going into the final round with it all to play for at the Masters on Sunday.
It was great to see Tiger Woods in his red shirt and black trousers on a Sunday again. Tiger finished well down the leaderboard but it was fantastic that he was able to finish the tournament. The traditional pins were out on the final day with the famous back left pin on the par 3 16th and the front right pin on the par 5 13th. Rory started his round with a birdie on the first which gave him a lift straight away for his final round. He made a couple more birdies on the front nine and got to the turn in 32. Rory continued his birdie run in the back nine with a chip in on the par 4 10th then a unbelievable iron shot on the par 5 13th which lead to an eagle which put him to six under after 13 holes of his final round but he saved his best shot to the last as he holed an amazing bunker shot on the 18th which calculated to a final round of 64 for McIlroy. McIlroy finished second which will give him a confidence boost for the upcoming majors later on in the Summer. Shane Lowry holed a excellent birdie putt on the 18th which gave him a final round of 69 which gave him a tied third finish in the 2022 US Masters. Shane Lowry is in fantastic form and if he keeps this form up he will have a chance of winning a major this Summer. Cameron Smith cut the gap of three with two opening birdies but Scheffler silenced the doubts as Scheffler chipped in on the third for birdie which settled Scheffler nerves in the final round. Smith achieved a fantastic birdie on the difficult par 4 11th to cut the gap but handed Scheffler the tournament with a triple bogey on the par 3 12th. A lot of Sky Sports pundits said that Smith shouldn’t went for the flag on the par 3 but when your swinging well it is hard to hit just to the middle of the green. Scottie Scheffler was fantastic in the final round as he was a well deserved champion. It was a relentless performance and kept the mistakes to a limit which was vital. The addition of Ted Scott as caddie for Scheffler was the difference in Scheffler winning the 2022 US Masters as Scott caddied Bubba Watson to victory twice around Augusta in both 2012 and 2014.
Scheffler is on top of the world and there is no reason why he couldn’t win another major in 2022 if he is able to maintain his brillant current form.