After a final-round 68 at Augusta, the American triumphs by four strokes, Challenge falters on the back nine, causing Åberg to finish second.
On Sunday, the Masters is scheduled to begin on the back nine. Scottie Scheffler didn’t put in much time waiting. Such a strategy is suitable for a player who has become so dominant that it is fair to draw parallels between him and Tiger Woods during his prime.
Expectations were growing that Ludvig Åberg would be the first rookie to win the Green Jacket at the Masters since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979. Prior to teeing off at Augusta National on Thursday, Åberg had never participated in a major event, so his accomplishment would have actually been even more historic.
At the ninth, Åberg made a breathtaking moment from 36 feet. His twisting, downward putt ended up in the cup’s bottom. Exhibition halls cheered and yelled. A short while afterward, Åberg was chuckling beside his caddie beside the green. Strong indication of youth’s innocence. What pressure, exactly? After 63 holes, he was tied for the lead in the Masters. Åberg was still attending a college in Texas a year ago.
Åberg was now troubled by the mystery surrounding the man in the group behind them. Scheffler’s approach to the par four ninth hole still appears unbelievable because the ball’s final two rolls only differed by a few millimeters. It only took a birdie three to take back the lead. Scheffler would never give up that advantage. Or, to be honest, a benefit he never seemed to be willing to give up. The supper menu of the champion will once again feature cheeseburgers and milkshakes in 2025.
Before round four, Scheffler was the favorite for a reason. The 27-year-old seems as though he could stay immobile while being tickled from head to toe with a feather duster. In addition to becoming the first golfer to successfully defend the Players Championship, he has now won the Masters twice in his past three attempts. Scheffler has won three of his past four starts and nine awards since February 2022. His overall performance, which includes several top five finishes, indicates unmatched consistency. The golf industry has fallen into anarchy and civil conflict, Inside the ropes, this silent man has been the one with the most power. In the process, he has amassed wealth equal to the GDP of a medium-sized nation. An additional $3.6 million from Augusta National. The last player to win a tournament whilst the azaleas were in bloom was Woods in 2005.
Scheffler won by four shots with a score of 68. He finished 11 under par in conditions that were occasionally crazy. In this Masters edition, Scheffler’s lowest score was 72. Åberg scored 69 to take second place.
Amen Corner showed its fangs. Even the most beautiful sequence of holes in golf maintains that sense of threat. After getting in contact, Collin Morikawa double-bogeyed the eleventh. Max Homa was given two strokes for hitting his tee shot into a brush on the twelfth hole. Similar to Morikawa, Åberg also made a mistake early. With his second shot, the Swede found water. Remarkably, Scheffler bogeyed the eleventh hole, but the mayhem occurring elsewhere allowed his lead to grow to three.
Åberg answered in a style appropriate for his ascending position. With a stroke at the thirteenth, he closed the gap to only two shots behind the world’s top player. Scheffler’s mistake margin was restored after he made a four on the same hole. Åberg made a comeback thanks to a birdie on the challenging 14th hole. Scheffler was enjoying himself immensely in this duel now; with four to go, he shot an iron to put himself three ahead. He missed the par five at the fifteenth due to a loose drive by Åberg. Åberg was four behind when Scheffler made a birdie on the short 16th hole. Vienna, good night.
Tommy Fleetwood shot a flawless 69 to surge into a tie for third place at four under. Had it not been for a lengthy birdie try at the sixteenth hole that struck the flagstick and managed to stay above the surface, the Englishman’s situation would have been even better. Nevertheless, this is by far Fleetwood’s finest Masters result. Cameron Smith and Bryson DeChambeau closed at minus two.
Rory McIlroy found himself in exactly the situation he would have preferred to avoid, evaluating the advantages of others as this major rapidly came to a finish. With a 73, McIlroy tied for 22nd. Admitting that his prospects are being undermined by technical obstacles, he was pragmatic. McIlroy will also be subtly conscious of the prolonged wait for a career grand slam. When asked what goes through Scheffler’s head as he crushes everyone in front of him, McIlroy grinned. Nothing, to be exact, McIlroy said. “Not overly disorganized. These kinds of stretches make the game feel quite simple.
The difficult thing is when you’re not quite in form. While you are hunting and thinking about it a lot, you don’t give it any thought when you are in form. There is little doubt that McIlroy will recover. All the same, we live in the Scottie Scheffler era. Woods will undoubtedly nod in agreement.