Scottie Scheffler, who recently rose to become the top player in golf, won the Masters in commanding fashion, controlling all of the fourth round and finishing with a score of 10-under and a three-shot margin over Rory McIlroy.
Scheffler came to Augusta as the newly minted best player in the world, having recorded wins in three of his last five starts, with victories at the Waste Management in Phoenix, the Arnold Palmer in Orlando, and at the Match Play in Austin.
Scheffler was paired with Australian Cameron Smith. But Smith faltered on the 12th hole, coming up short in the water, and ended up making a triple bogey and falling out of contention. Smith rallied at the end, but was never a factor after the meltdown on the 12th.
That left McIlroy, playing the strongest round of the day, to make a run at Scheffler. McIlroy started the day one over par, but made four birdies on the front nine to surge up the leaderboard. He made eagle on the 13th, but that still put him well back of Scheffler. He amped up the drama by making an improbable birdie out of the greenside bunker on 18, and his 64 was the second lowest score in tournament history.
“It’s what you dream about, right?” McIlroy said after his round. “You dream about getting yourself in position. I wasn’t quite close enough to the lead, I don’t think. Scottie is playing really, really well. To play as well as I did today and then to finish like this, I mean, it’s just absolutely incredible.”
WITB: Scottie Scheffler’s Winning Bag at The Masters
Driver: TaylorMade Stealth Plus
3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth
Utility iron: Srixon Z U85
Irons: Srixon ZU85 (4), TaylorMade P7TW (5-PW)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM8 (50-12F, 56-14F, 60-06K)
Putter: Scotty Cameron Special Select Timeless Tourtype GSS Prototype
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
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Canadians at The Masters
Augusta suits Corey Conners. The Canadian from Listowel has contended in the last two Masters, and continued his strong play this week, even if the TV coverage rarely showed him. Conners rolled in a birdie on the final hole to ensure his third consecutive Top 10 finish at Augusta and cement his position as one of the best in the world. Conners birdied three of the last five holes to finish at 2-under par for the final round, and 3-under for the tournament finishing T6.
Conners opened on Thursday with a strong 2-under par and played well on Friday in difficult conditions.
“It’s a grind—still have lots of smiles out there,” Conners said. “Trying to have fun. Pretty awesome place to be, regardless of the conditions. Nowhere else I’d rather be. Just enjoyed it as much as I could. Definitely had to think a lot out there. It was definitely a bit of a grind.”
This year’s Masters included three Canadians at the start, but past winner Mike Weir didn’t make the cut. Dundas, Ont.’s Mackenzie Hughes did make the cut, but shot 77-78 on the weekend.
Tiger On The Prowl
Not only did he show up, but Tiger Woods managed to play four rounds. No, they weren’t his best, and he was never really in contention, but Woods, who was nearly killed in a car accident in February, 2021, returned to competitive golf, something many thought would never happen.
Making his comeback at The Masters was a key for Woods, who finished at 13-over par.
“This is where all the great champions have ever played,” he said. “They have walked these grounds.”
Few expected Woods to play at Augusta—his first competitive golf since playing in the U.S. Open in September, 2020. Woods said he’s not where he’d like to be in terms of his health, but managing to play at all is a step in the right direction.
“Just to be able to play, and not only just to play, but I put up a good first round,” Woods said, referencing his 1-under par opening round. “I got myself there. I don’t quite have the endurance that I would like to have had, but as of a few weeks ago, didn’t even know if I was going to play in this event.”
So what’s next? Woods said he expects to play the British Open, which will be held at Old Course at St. Andrews.
“To go from that to here, we’re excited about the prospects of the future, about training, about getting into that gym and doing some other stuff to get my leg stronger, which we haven’t been able to do because it needed more time to heal,” he said. “I think it needs a couple more days to heal after this, but we’ll get back after it, and we’ll get into it.”
The only gaffe he made was when he referred to the “fans” at the outdoor presentation ceremony when he should have said “patrons”. All flinching aside from the Masters officiando, just a rookie mistake which can be forgiven in light of his incredible winning run of late.