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Moments before top-ranked golfer Scottie Scheffler began his final round at the Masters, his mother, Diane, leaned over the white barricades that demarcate the restricted area outside Augusta National’s renowned clubhouse.
Diane wasn’t peering through the crowd of eager spectators to see if Scottie was ready at the first tee. Instead, she was handing Azalea cocktails—the Masters’ iconic pink drink—to family members waiting beyond the barriers.
For the Scheffler family, the on-course drinks often give way to champagne bottles when tournaments conclude, as they frequently have reason to celebrate.
Despite starting Sunday’s round four strokes behind Rory McIlroy and Cameron Young, there was confidence that Scheffler could still emerge victorious and don the coveted green jacket.
This confidence stems from the aura of inevitability that accompanies Scheffler, particularly in this revered setting.
On Sunday, it took until the 15th for that sense to sink in. Despite two early birdies on the first and third, Scheffler was steady but far from explosive. At first, it appeared the customary charge just wasn’t to be. But, as McIlroy knows all too well, Scheffler is never one to count out.
Golf’s world No 1 Scottie Scheffler finished second at the Masters on Sunday
The American shot a four-under 68 in the final round to finish at 11-under for the tournamentÂ
The two-time Masters winner had pushed his tee shot on the par-five 15th into the pine straw weaving through the trees to the right of the fairway.
He lined up his escape, finding a narrow window through the towering trunks. However, his ball clipped an overhanging branch, which sent it pinballing back through the trees.
The recovery was spectacular. Firing his third to within 28 feet of the pin, Scheffler rolled in the subsequent putt for birdie.
The galleries framing the 15th green and 16th tee, brimming with sunsoaked patrons, erupted. He couldn’t. Could he? They certainly believed so.
That was the turning point. The moment the belief shifted. The air, suddenly charged with a ripple of excitement, carried murmurs of anticipation. Anticipation that only heightened at the next when he rolled in another birdie putt at the par-three 16th. At 11-under, Scheffler had suddenly slashed McIlroy’s lead to two shots.
Scheffler shot 133 over the weekend. In doing so, he became the first player going back to 1942 to have a bogey-free final two rounds at the Masters. But ultimately, the charge came a little too late.
His first two rounds of two-under 70 and two-over 72 had left him too far off the pace and with just too much work to do to close the gap to McIlroy on Sunday.
Instead, it was the Northern Irishman who triumphed at Augusta National once again. Liberated from his ghosts of Masters past last year, McIlroy became the first player since Tiger Woods in 2002 to win back-to-back at the Masters.
Scheffler couldn’t quite chase down Rory McIlroy who won his second consecutive Masters
Scheffler and his wife Meredith (right) welcomed their second son just 16 days ago
Birthday boy Russell Henley also fell short in his pursuit of the green jacket on SundayÂ
Scheffler became a father-of-two just 16 days ago when he and wife Meredith welcomed their second son, Remy. The last time Meredith gave birth on the eve of a major championship, he was arrested while trying to enter Valhalla ahead of the second round of the US PGA.
A second-place finish at the Masters may sting, but it’s still preferable to jail.
Elsewhere around Augusta, several American rallies flatlined. Russell Henley and Collin Morikawa both launched charges up the leaderboard.
A green jacket would have been the perfect present for birthday boy Henley. But the Georgia native, who turned 37 on Sunday, could not close out the fairytale ending. After shooting a six-under 66 on Saturday, Henley mustered a four-under 68 Sunday to finish in a tie for third alongside Tyrrell Hatton, Justin Rose and Cameron Young.
Before coming to Augusta, Morikawa hadn’t played since March 12 when he injured his back after only one hole of the Players Championship. He admitted earlier this week that he had ‘never felt this nervous’ in his life, revealing that he was still ‘battling’ the injury and was struggling to even walk.
Yet, that didn’t hinder him on the back nine where he rattled off five consecutive birdies to claw his way to nine-under alongside Sam Burns, who despite a promising start to the tournament, faded throughout the final day.