Scottie Scheffler put an exclamation mark on his claim of being the best golfer on the planet after winning his second Masters title at Augusta National.
The world No.1 carded a clinical four-under 68 in his fourth round to win by four strokes over Ludvig Aberg.
After a competitive first three days, Scheffler showed his class on Sunday to separate himself from the field, shooting seven birdies and three bogeys in his round.
Whenever Scheffler seemed to make a mistake, he would bounce back with birdies, ultimately fending off any challenge from the chasing pack.
The 27-year-old started at one-over for his first seven holes, before sinking three birdies in a row. He dropped a shot again at 11, but would go on to make three more birdies to finish.
It was a culmination of an incredible run of form for Scheffler, with his dominance garnering comparisons to Tiger Woods.
Scheffler has now won three of his last four tournaments, having won back-to-back at Bay Hill and the Players Championship before finishing second at the Houston Open prior to the Masters. His victory at Augusta, his second green jacket after winning in 2022, was also his sixth top-five finish in nine starts this year.
Aberg, playing in his first career Major, came the closest at seven-under for the tournament. The 24-year-old Swede carded a three-under 69, including five birdies and a double bogey, to claim solo second.
Colin Morikawa, Tommy Fleetwood and Max Homa shared third place at four-under.
2024 Masters final leaderboard
- -11 Scheffler
- -7 Aberg
- -4 Morikawa
- -4 Homa
- -4 Fleetwood
Scottie Scheffler wins the 2024 Masters: Reaction
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER WINS!
Hello and welcome to live reaction of the 2024 Masters. Scottie Scheffler claimed his second green jacket after a clinical fourth round, shooting a four-under 68 to win the title by four shots. Follow along as we bring you all the reaction from Augusta National.
THE MOMENT SCHEFFLER WON HIS SECOND MASTERS
What a performance by Scottie Scheffler. He just seemed to have another gear today. Here is the moment that he made it official:
Scottie Scheffler, two-time Masters champion has a nice ring to it. pic.twitter.com/cERoZI5JtHApril 14, 2024
THE GREEN JACKET PRESENTATION
Scottie Scheffler has signed his card and is in the Butler Cabin for the green jacket presentation. 2023 champion Jon Rahm will soon present the jacket to Scheffler. Neal Shipley is also in the room after earning the honor of low amateur.
Your 2024 Masters champion! pic.twitter.com/oP0K0TJYJNApril 14, 2024
SCHEFFLER SPEAKS AFTER HIS WIN
"Yeah, I did my best," Scheffler said at the Butler Cabin. "I did my best to stay calm out there. I tried to stay patient on the course and was able to make some key shots and key putts today to keep my round going."
He also paid tribute to Ludvig Aberg, who was his closest challenger in the end.
"Ludvig played great today. He made a good move at me there on the back nine and I was fortunate to hold him off towards the end."
Scheffler admitted his ball striking wasn't at his best today.
"I hadn't hit many good iron shots, which is a bit unusual for me. I had hit some good ones but they weren't really ending up where they were supposed to. I had that bogey there on 7 and a nice birdie putt on 8, and going into No. 9 it was nice to get that feeling of hitting a really well-struck shot and then it set me up to have a really nice back nine."
Asked if he had a message for his wife, who is expected to soon go into labor with their first child, Scheffler said: "I love you and I'm coming home."
THE AFTERMATH OF SCHEFFLER'S WIN
The winning putt. The emotions. The walk to Butler Cabin.Soaking it all in with Scottie Scheffler. pic.twitter.com/Z1dpO6Nym2April 14, 2024
ABERG ON HIS SECOND PLACE FINISH
Ludvig Aberg, playing in his first Major, put in an impressive performance to finish in a solo second, four shots behind Scheffler.
He said he believed he had a shot at winning, and was ultimately proud with how he played this week.
"I think as a competitor that's what you strive for, you always want to put yourself in a position to win the tournament," he told Sky Sports after his round.
"Obviously it's a privilege to play here, and I'm proud with how I played today."
REMARKABLE SCOTTIE STAT
Since joining the PGA Tour in 2020, Scheffler has never won a tournament after the Masters. He has nine wins on tour, but has only won before May. You wouldn't bet on that streak continuing the way he's currently playing.
SCHEFFLER'S FULL SCORECARD
SCHEFFLER RECEIVES HIS GREEN JACKET AT AUGUSTA
A champion once again. #themasters pic.twitter.com/iQtyCyNekcApril 14, 2024
TED SCOTT REACTS TO SCHEFFLER'S WIN
Scheffler's caddie Ted Scott said he was fortunate to be in his position and win tournaments with the world No.1.
"Honestly, I’m just pinching myself," he said after Scheffler claimed his second green jacket. "I don’t know how I get to do this. When I was 19 years old, a guy by the name of Ryan Smith told me, if you want to get better at something, find people who are better at you and spend time with them. That’s kind of been my motto in life.
"I’ve just been very fortunate that great people will take me on as their caddie as other parts of my life. I’ve worked for some incredible golfers. Scottie is just added to the list, and now it’s just incredible to be a part of it. I’m just very fortunate."
MORIKAWA SAYS HE WAS TOO GREEDY
Colin Morikawa, who started the day just one shot behind Scheffler, admitted greed ended up costing him in his final round.
"Greed got the best of me," he said after shooting a two-over 74. "9, can't miss it over there and can't leave it in the bunker. 11, just tried to hit too perfect of a shot. It's not like at that point I was trying to press. I knew where I stood.
"Yeah, it's just can't do that. In the past I haven't done it, but kind of where the game's at. You kind of find your little stride.
"We put a lot of pieces of the puzzle together this week, but after watching Scottie this week, I know what to do if I really want to close this gap on what he's doing and how impressive he's playing."
SCHEFFLER WITH THE MASTERS TROPHY
ABERG SAYS HE WANTS TO WIN MAJORS
Asked about his goals for the future after his round, Aberg said: "Everyone in my position, they are going to want to be major champions. They are going to want to be world No.1, and it's the same for me, and that's nothing different.
"It's been that way ever since I picked up a golf club, and that hasn't changed. So I think this week solidifies a lot of those things are there, and we just need to keep doing those things and put ourselves in positions to win tournaments, I think."
He said he was encouraged by his performance this week.
"I felt like coming into this week, I felt like I was playing well and I was swinging the way I wanted to. But, you know, there's so much more to golf. There's a lot of things that needs to come together, and I felt like we did a lot of golf stuff the last couple of weeks.
"We've been working on a few things, me and my team, my coaches. And it's nice to see that kind of come through on this stage and to know that I'm able to pull off a certain amount of shots and hit the putts the way I want to, and it's just very encouraging and I want to do it again and again I think."
SCHEFFLER'S INCREDIBLE RESULTS IN 2024 SO FAR
Scheffler now has six top fives in nine starts on the PGA Tour this year, including three wins in his last four tournaments. His worst result was a T17 at the American Express in January. Incredible.
Here are his results this season: T5, T17, T6, T3, T10, 1st, 1st, T2, 1st
HOMA, ABERG AND MORIKAWA ON SCHEFFLER'S WIN
Scheffler's closest competitors at the Masters this year paid tribute to the world No.1 after his victory.
Homa said: "His commitment, his mind. He is pretty amazing at letting things roll off his back and stepping up to very difficult golf shots and treating them like their own. He's obviously a tremendous talent, but I think that is his superpower."
Aberg said: "Obviously Scottie is an unbelievable golf player, and I think we all expect him to be there when it comes down to the last couple holes of a tournament. He's proven it again and again, and I think, you know, he makes us better. He makes you want to beat him, obviously, and, you know, that's the same for me and the same for everyone else in this field I think."
Morikawa said: "It's impressive what he's doing throughout the bag. From junior golf, he was always a great short game player. His chipping and putting was always great. This whole putting-majig he was going through, I knew he was going to get out of. But to see what he's doing with his irons is crazy impressive because he's hitting every shot, he's moving both directions, and it's something that I admired that hopefully I can get my game back to that kind of spot."
HOMA PROUD OF HOW HE PLAYED
Max Homa, who was in contention all tournament, was ultimately proud with how he hung in there all tournament.
A double bogey on 12 proved costly as he started to fade from there to shoot a one-over 73.
"Yeah, really good," he said when asked about how he felt being in contention at a Major. "I thought I handled myself great, didn't make any putts, really didn't feel like I blinked. Would have loved the ball on 12 not to go in the foot of ivy. But I hit a good shot, and I think I did that all weekend.
"Scottie is an amazing golfer. It's really impressive. Obviously I was going to need to play some spectacular golf today, did not. But I thought I played some really good golf, so I'm proud of that, and it was a really fun weekend."
AMAZING SCOTTIE STAT
The Masters champion has 3 wins and 0 rounds over par in 2024April 14, 2024
HIGHLIGHTS FROM SCHEFFLER'S PRESS CONFERENCE
Scheffler sums up his win:
"It's hard to put into words how special this is. It's been a long week, a grind of a week. The golf course was so challenging, and to be sitting here wearing this jacket again and getting to take it home is extremely special."
Will having a baby impact Scheffler's dominance?
"Well, I'm definitely not going to intentionally take my eye off the ball. I will go home, soak in this victory tonight. Will definitely enjoy the birth of my first child. But with that being said, I still love competing. My priorities will change here very soon. My son or daughter will now be the main priority, along with my wife, so golf will now be probably fourth in line. But I still love competing. I don't plan on taking my eye off the ball anytime soon, that's for sure."
Most important shot of the day:
"I would say the best momentum turner that I had today was the birdie putt on 8. I hit two really good shots in there long of the green. I had an extremely difficult pitch that I hit up there about 10, 12 feet from the cup. It was a challenging read because it turned early and it was really straight at the end. So it was a putt that you had to really start on line and hope it held its line. I poured that one in.
"Then kind of gave me some good momentum, and I used that to birdie 9 and 10 and keep pushing because I knew there was birdies out there on back nine. I had a lot of really talented players trying to chase me down, and I knew pars weren't going to get it done."
MORE FROM SCHEFFLER'S PRESS CONFERENCE:
Why Scheffler loves to win:
"I was sitting around with my buddies this morning, I was a bit overwhelmed, I told them, I wish I didn't want to win as badly as did I or as badly as I do. I think it would make the mornings easier.
"But I love winning. I hate losing. I really do. And when you're here in the biggest moments, when I'm sitting there with the lead on Sunday, I really, really want to win badly. And my buddies told me this morning, my victory was secure on the cross. And that's a pretty special feeling to know that I'm secure for forever and it doesn't matter if I win this tournament or lose this tournament. My identity is secure for forever."
How Scheffler feels about his game at the moment:
"I feel like I'm playing really good golf right now. I feel like I'm in control of my emotions as I've ever been, which is a good place to be. I feel like I'm maturing as a person on the golf course, which is a good place to be.
"I think it's hard to argue with the results of the last few weeks. I've been playing some nice golf. But I really try to not focus too much on the past. I'm going to go home this week and reflect on this week and soak it in as best I can. Like I said, it's not - it's not a very satisfying sport because I'm supposed to tee it up again on Thursday. Back to the grind pretty quick."
SOME STATS ON SCHEFFLER'S EARNINGS THIS YEAR
Scheffler will take home a $3.6 million check for winning the Masters, boosting his earnings for the year to over $15m.
Here are a couple of tweets digging deeper into his earnings this year:
How good has Scottie Scheffler been this year?Based on the standard 10% cut for wins, his caddie, Ted Scott, has already earned $1.2 million this year.That would place him 54th out of 200 PGA Tour players and ahead of guys like Viktor Hovland and Rickie Fowler.Not bad. pic.twitter.com/D6bcaP95BrApril 14, 2024
Scottie Scheffler has now made $12,653,735 in on-course earnings alone over the last 35 days.That's $361,535 per day.April 15, 2024
SCHEFFLER'S STROKES GAINED STATS
Scheffler gained strokes on the field in all categories at the Masters this week. Here are his strokes gained stats, via Data Golf:
SG: off the tee: +1.37 (2nd)
SG: approach to green: +0.78 (14th)
SG: around the green: +1.97 (1st)
SG: putting: +0.45 (22nd)
SG: tee to green: +4.12 (1st)
SG: total: +4.57 (1st)
MASTERS WEEK COMES TO A CLOSE
What a win for Scottie Scheffler, who is without a doubt the best player in the world at the moment by some distance. The big question now is how many more Majors can he win?
That will do it for our live coverage of the 2024 Masters. Thanks for following along.
