In these urgent times where three months seems like an en, Scottie Scheffler went on to complete at least one of the most underlined chapters of this century. He finished his mission with the conquest of his first Masters, which is his first major, his fourth tournament in 2022 and also of the six played, an extraordinary sequence in a sport like golf that since 2000 only Tiger Woods had been seen doing. on different occasions and to Vijay Singh in his colossal 2004. In addition, he consolidates the first place in the world ranking that he had reached two weeks ago for the first time.
Scheffler, a kind of 25-year-old Tony Soprano, very complete in all facets of the game, always friendly, married, Christian, from a wealthy family, great student and very American -he marks the ball with an American independence coin- he had a more placid Sunday than is presumed when his ball went into the woods on hole 3.
Cameron Smith, the defiant Australian, had blasted off with two consecutive birdies. Boom, boom. The three shots he had for rent had been reduced to one in 20 minutes. And with the Texan born in New Jersey, where he spent just five years -he only remembers that he plays in the backyard of his house-, a serious fight is intuited in the pinnace.
But in Scheffler, a player that nobody noticed 14 months ago To cite a defining moment for golf – Tiger Woods’ car accident – there is more to a golfer than an instant. His alliance with Ted Scott, the caddy who already has three green jackets after winning two with Bubba Watson, has made him even bigger. And he got it out of there as best he could to the skirts of the green of hole 3.
Scottie Scheffler celebrates victory at the Augusta Masters.
And then it was seen that he won. His chip bounced twice, hit the green and hit the entire flagstick until it sank into the hole. The “disgustingly good” short game was supposed to be Smith, but the blow fell on him. And the Australian, who had played that section exactly the same as Scottie, bogeyed and the difference returned to three shots, a safety strip that was never violated again in what was left of Sunday, a sunny day, with the Sunday flags for people to take risks.
Smith, overboard
The second round of Smith, who holed a great birdie on the 11th hole and returned to place again to three with seven holes ahead. Take a breath. In the par 3 of the Amen Crner, the one with the lake, he put it directly in the water. He cracked a 6, like so many others. Like Molinari in 2019, like McIlroy in 2011. And that’s where her credit ended.
It was precisely Rory who animated the afternoon. His maneuver seemed impossible from the start. He started 10 shots behind Scheffler and despite his extraordinary 64, equaling the all-time record for a final round, he only cut seven shots from Scottie who ended up with double bogey in an undignified finish. He was left over.
