Scheffler continues dominance with impressive Masters victory
the story of Scottie Scheffler’s final round as he claimed a second green jacket at Augusta with a four-under-par 68, his second Masters win in the last three years.
Scheffler is only the fifth player to win two Masters titles before the age of 30 as well, although he would have to win the next two as well if he is to equal Woods’ record of four victories in the prestigious invitation event in that timeframe.
They are, however, the only two players to hold the distinction of leading after 54 holes of The Masters and going on to win while No 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking on two occasions, with Woods doing so in 2001 and 2002 followed by Scheffler matching that two years ago and this year.
Yet even Woods took three attempts to claim the green jacket for the first time and a further four to pull it on again. Scheffler has now triumphed twice in his first five starts at Augusta National, a record only inaugural winner Horton Smith (1934 and 1936) has bettered.
What was most impressive for Sky Sports Golf analyst Paul McGinley, though, was the way the American had to rely on different aspects of his game than he has done in other successes this year, with the leading player in strokes gained on the PGA Tour this year (+1.35) ranking only 24th (+0.53) going into the final round of The Masters.
Scottie Scheffler reflects on how this year’s Masters win felt different to the last and highlights the importance of caddy Ted Scott.
“This guy is not on his game, not playing his best golf, and yet he’s still The Masters champion so you’re looking at why – what is the secret sauce here?” McGinley told US broadcaster Golf Channel.
“He gets it done by if there’s a dangerous hole…he relies on his brilliant short game. As off as his iron play was this week, what he did was when it came to a dangerous hole was he bailed out and relied on his chipping – he was the best chipper in the field this week.
“Then when he gets a short iron in his hand, that’s go time and he takes advantage of that, and peeling off the par-fives as well.
