World No. 1 finished ahead of Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy to claim his first major title.
After two close-range misses on the 18th green, he rolled home the winning putt and carded one-under par 71 on the final round to finish the tournament on 10-under, five shots ahead of second-place McIlroy.
During the four days at the lush, sprawling golf club in Augusta, Georgia, Scheffler played superb golf and refused to falter under the pressure of being the tournament leader for nearly three days.
In the end, he was rewarded for his recent good form, winning the most prestigious tournament title out there and walking home with the famous green jacket and $2.7 million winner’s purse.
When asked how he felt immediately afterwards, Scheffler said he was “quite tired”.
“I want to go home! I’m pretty tired right now – I’m really at a loss for words right now,” he said.
“I can’t thank my family enough – they’ve made many sacrifices over the years. To have the honor of winning the tournament and having my family with me was incredible.”
shape of his life
The last two months have been transformative for Scheffler.
In February, the American golfer didn’t have a PGA Tour win to his name. However, after a string of three wins in five tournaments, he was named No. 1 in the world of golf in March.
And with that red-hot form behind him, the 25-year-old Texan was earmarked as one of the favorites for the green jacket at the end of Sunday.
After day one he looked menacing and sat in third place, just two behind leader Im Sung-jae. By the end of the second round he had built up a large lead with steady but precise golf.
On Saturday, in difficult conditions of blustery winds and low temperatures, Scheffler continued to show his balanced nature to go into the final day with a three-shot lead over Cameron Smith.
And after the first two holes on Sunday it looked like he was in for a real fight.
Smith snapped consecutive birdies to reduce Scheffler’s lead to just one shot.
But, as he has done for the past three months, Scheffler stayed calm and produced some excellent shots – including a masterful chip-in on the third hole for a birdie – to reassert his lead.
While he went about his work without stress, others began to falter.
For the Australian Smith, who had pushed Scheffler so hard, his bid for a debut major on the treacherous par-3 12th hole felt disintegrated when his tee shot hit water and he had to settle for a triple bogey.
While Smith’s confidence seemed to wane, Scheffler stood his ground, continuing to collect pars and the odd birdie to maintain his sizable lead.
His closest challenger ended up being McIlroy, who shot up the leaderboard after a superb eight-under-par 64 and took the lead in the clubhouse.
Yet even under the pressure of a potential Masters title down the line, Scheffler didn’t back down, extending his lead through the 14th and 15th holes to extend it to five with just three holes left.
And from then on Scheffler, despite a failed drive on the 17th, managed to calm his nerves until the last green on the 72nd hole.
With a huge lead and his 2022 Masters championship title almost certainly won, Scheffler showed he was human as he made four putts — missing two from close range — before bowling home the winning putt and sparking scenes of celebration.
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Hugs with his beaming wife Meredith and proud father Scott were the first order of the day before he made the short walk to the clubhouse to sign his winning scorecard and get ready for his new outfit.
According to the PGA TourScheffler’s win makes him the first player since David Duval in 1999 to win four times in a PGA Tour season by the end of the Masters.