Golf, Scheffler also wins the Masters

Scottie Scheffler’s magical moment continues. That after the Phoenix Open, the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the WGC Match Play he also won the Masters wearing that green jacket that guarantees him the passport to the immortality of golf. Four hits in less than two months, from February 16th (Phoenix) to today (Augusta). Until February 15 it was zero. A history book feat. To give a better idea: it took Tiger Woods 252 days to reach the top of the world rankings after the first victory, he only 42. Scheffler, 25, finished at -10 (69, 67, 71, 71) and with the victory at the Masters he puts in his pocket two million and seven hundred thousand dollars, an increase of more than 25% compared to the check awarded to the winner a year ago, the Japanese Hideki Matsuyama.

STATE OF GRACE

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In Augusta the Texan was the protagonist from day one, finishing in second position behind the Korean Im. The decisive shot on Friday, when Scheffler put 5 shots between himself and his pursuers. After a Saturday in defense, on Sunday he took the lead in the last lap with a 3-stroke advantage over the Australian Cameron Smith. This advantage, however, has almost completely vanished after the first two holes, closed in par by Scheffler and with two birdies by Smith. At that moment it would have been easy for Scheffler to feel the weight of the pressure on his shoulders. On the other hand, at hole 3 he pocketed an approach from off the green and gave the turning point to his day: birdie also at hole 7 while Smith began to alternate strokes earned with errors, no longer being able to really scare the leader. Indeed ruining everything with a triple bogey at 12 the par 3 which is perhaps the most famous hole of the Augusta National, the one in which many dreams of glory end up in the water. Smith lost his peace of mind and was thus overtaken by several pursuers, including a super Rory McIlroy who closed the lap with a phantasmagoric -8 which gave him the second position behind Scheffler. Too bad for the first two laps a bit gray – both closed with 73 strokes, +1 on par – which did not allow him to conquer that Masters which is the only Major that is missing from his collection. Rory’s party was beautiful for the shot posted directly from the bunker at 6pm for the last birdie of his day.

WOODS IS BACK

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The other great protagonist of the week was Tiger Woods, who returned to competitions 18 months after his last appearance – The Masters 2020, moved to November due to Covid – and 14 months after the car accident that happened to him in a street in Los Angeles, where he lost control of his SUV which overturned several times. In that incident Tiger nearly lost his right leg. Just being in Augusta was his great victory. And as he said at the end of the lap: “If we don’t consider the victories, this has certainly been the most exciting week of my career.” The final score (+13) – with two laps in 78, the worst of his life at the Masters – as well as the position (47th) are just details. It was important to finally see him on the pitch.