| Masters final leaderboard |
|---|
| -11 Scheffler (US); -7 Aberg (Swe); -4 Fleetwood (Eng), Morikawa, Homa (US) |
| Selected others: Level Hatton (Eng); +4 McIlroy (NI), Fitzpatrick (Eng); +9 Rahm (Spa), Willett; +16 Woods |
Masters champion Scottie Scheffler says his fierce determination to win means he will continue to chase victories despite admitting golf is about to become less of a priority in his life.
Scheffler secured a four-shot victory over Sweden’s rising star Ludvig Aberg at Augusta National on Sunday.
Between now and next month’s major, the US PGA Championship, Scheffler and his wife are expecting their first child.
“I’m not going to intentionally take my eye off the ball,” said the American.
“I still love competing. I love winning. I hate losing.”
Golf, however, was not his main focus after winning a second Green Jacket, the 27-year-old’s thoughts instead turning to his heavily pregnant wife Meredith, who stayed at home in Texas
“All I can think about is getting home. It is a special time for us,” said the world number one.
“I will go home, soak in this victory and enjoy the birth of my first child. I am looking forward to celebrating with Meredith – it’s been a long week without her.
“My priorities will change very soon. My son or daughter will be the main priority, along with my wife, so golf will now be probably fourth in line,” he added, before referring to role his Christian faith played in his victory.
It was Scheffler’s third win in his past four tournaments and his second major, to add to his 2022 Masters victory.
Since winning that first Green Jacket, Scheffler has been the world’s best player and throughout 2023 was peerless in almost all metrics, with only well-documented putting struggles stopping him from converting more of his 18 consecutive top-12 finishes into wins.
That changed in March when he won the Arnold Palmer Invitational and then became the first player to win successive Players Championship titles – and he carried that form into the Masters.
The victory sees Scheffler join Tiger Woods as the only players to win both the PGA Tour’s flagship Players title and the Masters in the same season.
His caddie, Ted Scott, who won this title in 2012 and 2014 with Bubba Watson, described Scheffler as “a different kind of special”.
“When he called me, I had no idea he was that good,” said Scott. “He doesn’t really have a weakness.”
Scheffler held off the challenge of Aberg, who was trying to become the first debutant to win the Masters since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979, and fellow Americans Collin Morikawa and Max Homa in the final round.
Aberg is enjoying a meteoric rise in the game, having only turned professional 10 months ago. Since then, he was won events on both the PGA Tour and DP World Tour and played a key role in Europe’s Ryder Cup victory over the United States in Rome.
Remarkably, this was his first appearance in a a major championship.
The 24-year-old briefly tied Scheffler for the lead after a phenomenal birdie putt at the ninth hole, only to see his hopes dashed when he found the water on the 11th.
Despite that double-bogey setback, he recovered to birdie the 13th and 14th and finish three clear of those in third.
“I was very nervous, shaking a little bit on the first tee,” said Aberg.
“We knew that hitting it in the water on 11 wasn’t ideal, but we also just kept playing. That’s what me and my caddie Joe [Skovron] and our team has been trying to work on. Just keep playing no matter what happens.
“Everyone in my position wants to be a major champion, wants to be world number one and I am no different.
“It’s been that way ever since I picked up a golf club. This week solidifies [that] a lot of those things are there.
“Scottie is an unbelievable player and he’s proven it again and again. He makes us better – and he makes you want to beat him.”
