AUGUSTA, Ga. – Most Masters champions start crying the moment they put the green jacket on. Scottie Scheffler cried shortly after waking up Sunday morning, before the final lap even started.
Scheffler, who has now won four of his last six golf tournaments and earned $9 million over the past 57 days, won the 2022 Masters by three shots over Rory McIlroy after blasting a 1-under 71 to finish the week at 10-under to complete. Of course there were shots that caught the eye on Sunday. He chipped a ridiculous birdie on #3. He also shagged #9, #14, and #15. But it was his presence – his refusal to rush even when the tournament got a little interesting – and that long , slow Texas gait up and down the fairways at Augusta National that stood out from the rest.
Scheffler is a mega talent. Starting in 2022 after a singles win over then world No. 1 Jon Rahm at the 2021 Ryder Cup, every statistic imaginable indicated he would win soon and often. But then again, if you’re 0 for 70 on the PGA Tour, to start your career, you actually have to go out there and win.
Scheffler did this in batches starting in mid-February. He’s ticked off the Phoenix Open, Arnold Palmer Invitational and WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play as part of a hot run en route to this 86th Masters. He seemed perhaps even more surprised than even us at how quickly he rose to world No. 1.
“I’ve always wanted to be out here, and I never expected it,” he said Sunday night at Augusta National. “I never expected to be where I am now. You know you don’t expect things to come your way in this life. You just do the best you can with the hand you’re dealt and just go from there.
“I never thought I would be this good at golf so I just kept practicing and working hard and I will continue to do that.”
Actually, Scheffler has always been pretty good at golf. You don’t win the US Junior Amateur or make the Walker Cup team unless your talent is off the charts.
But there are plenty of juniors who can swing it and never make it to the press center podium on Sunday night in Augusta. What seems to set Scheffler apart is his even-tempered demeanor, which was a struggle in high school and college. That is also the reason why what he described on Sunday evening came as a surprise.
Things could have gone wrong for Scheffler early on Sunday. He parried the first two holes while the ever-threatening Cameron Smith, who played alongside Scheffler in the last pairing, made both birdies and closed in on the 36- and 54-hole leaders to within one shot.
Certainly Scheffler must have thought briefly about what he told his wife Meredith a few hours earlier. They fell asleep watching “The Office” on Saturday night as he tried to quell the stress that comes with holding a Masters lead into Sunday.
In the morning the pressure was overwhelming.
“This morning was a completely different story,” Scheffler said. “I cried like a baby this morning. I was so stressed I did not know, what I should do. I sat there and I said to Meredith, ‘I don’t think I’m ready for this. I am not ready. I don’t feel like I’m ready for stuff like that. And I just felt overwhelmed.”
Scheffler’s emotions are reminiscent of those described by Shane Lowry during the 2019 Open Championship at Royal Portrush.
“I guess I woke up this morning not sure I have what it takes to win a Major,” Lowry said after winning the Claret Jug.
Scheffler used different words on Sunday, but the context was the same.
“I think [I felt that way] because it’s the Masters,” said Scheffler. “I dreamed of being part of this golf tournament. I burst into tears when I first got my invite in the mail. We were lucky enough to play here in college and I love this place. I love this golf course.
“If you choose a golf tournament to win, that would be the tournament I want to win. You don’t know how many chances you will have. And so if you get a chance, you know, I think I had a five-stroke lead on Friday and a three-stroke lead today. I don’t know if you’ll get better opportunities. You don’t want to waste them.
Scheffler didn’t waste his. He intervened from an impossible spot in third place when Smith bogeyed and at no point throughout the rest of the day did anyone come within two strokes of his lead.
“After that [birdie and pars at Nos. 4 and 5] I’ve only just started cruising,” Scheffler added.
With McIlroy facing a heroic, record-breaking 64 – the round of the day and the tournament three-shot – Scheffler laid down a Masters-winning clinic in the back nine. He relied on caddy Ted Scottm, who won two of those on Bubba Watson’s bag while playing clean, intelligent golf earlier this week that belied his age (25) and experience (10 majors played).
Then came Scheffler in 18th place, hitting the green in two and having six putts to win immediately. Incredibly, he used four of these as he missed a 7-foot and a 5-foot to win the Masters before finally pouring a 3-foot in the Cup.
He said it was the first time that day that he had let his mind wander from the reality that he would be returning to this tournament for the rest of his life. It showed.
When he finally made the tournament-defining putt, Scheffler raised his fists and cheered for the patrons who had yelled at him for four straight days and 72 holes.
But he didn’t cry.
The tears had already flowed that morning at the rental apartment the Schefflers shared with Sam Burns and his wife Caroline. As Scheffler struggled to face the monumental task of fending off Smith, McIlroy and the rest of the world’s best field — on a course that has assified even greater talent in its Sunday history — he said his wife’s words be a balm.
The tall Texan, who never goes too high or too low on the golf course, couldn’t even face the thought of what the day might bring.
That’s the magic of Augusta National. You think you have his keys; then they add another lock. It’s mystical. More than the sum of its parts suggests it will be.
Think of it this way: the world’s No. 1 player, who had been beating everyone he looked at for two months, was terrified to ski down Magnolia Lane on Sunday afternoon.
Rick Gehman, Kyle Porter and Greg DuCharme react to Scottie Scheffler’s dominant win at the 2022 Masters. Follow and hear The First Cut on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
The fear of failure is a specifically human condition. You could say it’s a feature, not a bug. We don’t want to disappoint those who believe in us. We don’t want the world to remember us for what we couldn’t do.
However, the fear of success is much more terrifying. When you fear success, what you really fear is either that people will look at you in disbelief (“Wait, that guy?”) or that the reality of your success will not fill your soul.
Scheffler seems to have enough humility to deal with the former, but his wife had to advise him on the latter.
“My identity is not a golf score,” Scheffler said. “As Meredith told me this morning, ‘If you win this golf tournament today, if you lose this golf tournament by 10 strokes, if you never win another golf tournament… I’ll still love you, you’ll still be the same person. Jesus loves you and nothing changes.’ All I’m trying to do is glorify God, and that’s why I’m here, and that’s why I’m in position.
“Meredith always prays for peace because that’s what I want to feel on the golf course, which is to have peace and fun and just feel his presence. So, that’s her prayer every day. That’s my prayer and I really felt that today, peace.”
The self-proclaimed high school and college hothead is one of the most composed players on the PGA Tour today. At least on the golf course. His belief clearly affects his identity and protects him from the lie that a golf tournament is a life and death event.
However, questions remain. They always will – through our jobs, our upbringing, and our performance as people.
Coincidentally, McIlroy’s words from last fall after winning the CJ Cup fit here. “I somehow realized that being myself was enough,” he said after the win.
For Scheffler, “being me” was enough, with or without a green jacket. Meredith reminded him on Sunday morning that life is bigger than golf. But as he smiled groggily as afternoon faded into evening and a green jacket slipped around his torso, he also realized the golfer was also enough to be Scottie Scheffler. At least for this week.
“I mean, it’s Augusta National,” Scheffler said. “It’s as cool as it gets. It’s so much fun to play. I just can’t believe I can come back and enjoy this golf course for a lifetime.”