AUGUSTA, Ga. — One of them clenched his jaw. Another smiles. We walked with nonchalant concentration.
The walk from the driving range at Augusta National to the golf cart is a snapshot of the mindset of the final groups at the Masters. The cart will take them to the clubhouse, which they will pass through to get to the first tee.
Collin Morikawa jutted his jaw forward, clenching his teeth as he chewed gum deep into the back of his molars. He was in another world. He looked ahead without making eye contact with another human and jumped into the back of the cart. He was one shot behind and in the final group at the Masters. He raised one leg on the back of the wagon and kept that dazed look as he drove it to the slaughter.
Max Homa was simply intense, less giddy than laser-like. He was two shots down with 18 holes to go. Ludvig Åberg seemed so normal, smiling and waving to the crowd. He laughed with his coaching staff and seemed unfazed by it all.
And then there was Scottie Scheffler. He finished shredding and walked over to the cart. He looked around and took it all in. He was happy and relaxed, the exact opposite of the man he would share the final duet with. He saw his parents and sisters waiting and burst out laughing. He sat in the front seat with the driver and smiled as he gave his agent, Blake Smith, a big thumbs up.
Maybe it was over before it started. Three of golf’s best players had their chance against Scottie Scheffler. All four were tied with 12 holes to play.
Here’s how Scheffler took them all out.
He didn’t have his fastball. The best iron player of his generation couldn’t hit a green. Scheffler missed it on the No. 1 hole and sent a ball into the crowd at 2. His drive found a bunker at 3. He airmailed the green at 4, and disbelief made him laugh. By the time he bogeyed the seventh hole, Scheffler, Morikawa, Homa and Åberg were tied at 6 under par. This was going to be an epic Masters finale.
Then Morikawa got greedy.
And Scheffler found it.
Morikawa’s drive on No. 9 put him in the trees on the right side and had to find a path up the 30-foot-tall green from the pine straw. He knew better. But he still opted for the green, instead hitting too low a line at the front of the mound and rolling into the bunker. He was screwed.
And that’s when Scheffler hit a beautiful, perfect 89-yard wedge that landed in the center of the green and kept rolling back. It rolled and rolled, and the crowd stood and shouted, the sound growing louder and louder as the ball continued to move slowly toward the cup. He just missed the hole and settled at 6 inches. Scheffler was back.
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Morikawa then stood in the bunker and jumped into the air to look at the green. He decided to go around to see it from the top. He knew how important these ups and downs would be. And he didn’t release it. His bunker shot hit the steeply sloped top of the steep bunker and came back down.
Double bogey for Morikawa. A bird for Scheffler. By then, Morikawa was finished.
Scheffler was a year older than Morikawa in school, but they are both 27 years old. They are part of the same generation. Morikawa was the huge prospect who won two major tournaments at the age of 24. Viktor Hovland was the Oklahoma State phenom playing like a top 20 professional from the jump. Matt Fitzpatrick won the US Amateur and turned professional early.
“It was kind of like you had the three guys – Collin, Viktor and Matt – who I guess in the media were kind of the three guys who were seen as the next Jordan and JT and then, like Jon . Rahms and that group of guys,” Scheffler said in August 2023. “And I was kind of on the outside looking in on that little group.
Today, he stands out as the player of his generation. By the time Morikawa went for the pin on 11 and found the water, it was clear. There were three left.
Homa heard the roars. He heard bird sounds behind him. Homa was in contention, 7 under at 11, but Scheffler birdied holes Nos. 8, 9 and 10 to take a two-shot lead at 9 under. Åberg, who played in the penultimate group with Homa, made a double bogey 11 and fell four behind. The customers on the hill kept whispering, “It’s Max’s” and “He needs to keep it close.” »
He walked up to the 12th tee to a standing ovation. This is the moment every kid on the stand dreams of: Sunday at the Masters. The best par 3 in the world. With a chance to track down the world’s No. 1 player. He pulled out a 9 iron, the crowd fell silent and…
“The honest answer is it didn’t seem right,” Homa said.
Homa’s ball bounced off the back of the green and took a sharp leap, flying into the bushes at the top of the hill. It took several people just to find the ball, and it was buried so deep that it must have lied unplayably.
“I hit a really good golf shot and it didn’t feel right,” Homa said. “I saw a lot worse coming back down the hill. Yeah, the professional answer is that these things happen.
What makes it worse? While Homa found the ball and chipped, Scheffler took a conservative play behind him on 11 and made bogey. For about 30 seconds, Homa was behind. But then Homa’s fall on the downhill meant an impossible chip that didn’t even reach the green. He made a double bogey.
Another competitor has fallen.
Homa finally broke through at a major tournament. Before this week, he had never even made the final five groups during the weekend of a major tournament. He only had two finishes better than T35. But he led this Masters after 36 holes and was in the mix on the back nine on Sunday. He just made a mistake, and Scheffler doesn’t make mistakes.
The biggest lesson Scheffler learned from his previous Masters victory is not to play conservatively with a lead. Keep attacking. Don’t let them come to you. His drive on the epic par-5 13th traveled 326 yards down the right side of the fairway and into the rough.
“Should we go?” he asked his junior, Ted Scott.
“I said, ‘Absolutely. Why don’t we do what we do and what we are good at?’ “Scott said. “He’s the best ball striker in the world.”
Scheffler hit a 4-iron straight to the center of the green and easily made birdie. Homa entered hole 12 in the middle of the mix. By the time he finished 14, he was done.
“I haven’t had a drink in a really, really, really long time,” Homa said, “but I had this planned for Sunday after the Masters, so probably not great. It’s going to be fine.”
Scheffler watched from the top of the hill as his truest enemy breathed his last fighting breath.
The young man would not die. Åberg succeeded in this approach on No. 11 in the water, a rare error for the 24-year-old Swede playing his first major tournament, to put him back three points. But he birdied 13, almost making an eagle. And he birdied 14. When he teeed off on the par-5 15th, a marquee hole, he was 7 under and two behind Scheffler. Maybe, just maybe, there was a chance.
His third shot landed just atop the fringe of the 15th green. Åberg drove down the famous fairway and around the pond knowing he had to get there to have a chance. But as he rounded the water hazard, he looked up at the grandstand to his left. The crowd rose to its feet for him, a thunderous and heartfelt standing ovation as Åberg placed solo second in his first Masters. No debutant has won the Masters since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979.
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Åberg didn’t pretend to be super cooped up or block out the noise. No, he appreciated it. He looked up and smiled, thanking the people in the crowd for their support. They loved him and he kept walking to the ball like a man who understands. He knew that no matter how it ended, he was on the right path, on the right trajectory, and that his future was bright. It was just cool.
As he neared his putt, the scoreboard above the grandstand finally updated. Scheffler had completed the 14th hole. The 10 under par card has increased. Another Scheffler bird. The crowd gasped.
Åberg holed a sweet birdie putt that rolled off the hill and slowly rolled down the slippery green. He missed by a few centimeters and Åberg’s knees buckled in disappointment with a laughing smile. Scheffler was able to comfortably play the last four holes with a three-shot lead. But he attacked anyway.
Every human still at Augusta National focused on Scheffler’s tee shot at 16. It was the last chance to make some sort of mistake. Scheffler pulled out an 8-iron and let it rip. No rest. “If I was just trying to make pars on the last nine, I would have been on 18 and I would have had to make a par and hope Ludvig would only make a par,” Scheffler said.
The shot landed left-center of the green and rolled down the slope back to 9 feet. The stand roared as it cleared. It was clear: Scheffler was on the verge of winning the Masters for the second time in three years.
Then he still made the 9-foot putt. Bird.
“Good morning, good afternoon and good night!” » » shouted an Englishman from the stands.
Scheffler entered this week as golf’s biggest favorite (4 to 1) in more than a decade, since Tiger Woods dominated the sport and entered events at 3 to 1. It was understood that if Scheffler was on his game, he should win.
Yet with 12 holes remaining, three of the best golfers in the world had Scheffler on the ropes.
They still had no chance.
(Top photo: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)