There may have been many golf fans who expected a thrilling chase or a thrill-inducing twist. However, Scotty Scheffler (28, USA)’s golf was as flawless as a fortress. After all schedules for the 88th Masters are over, all that remains is admiration for Scheffler, who has risen to the ranks of 'all-time greats.'

World No. 1 Scheffler, who only knows golf, his wife, Meredith, and church, won the Masters, the first major tournament of the season, which ended on the 15th at Augusta National Golf Club (par 72) in Georgia, USA, with a final total of 11 under par and 277 strokes. He beat Ludwig Obery (Sweden), who was in second place at 7 under par, by 4 strokes and regained the green jacket for the first time in two years, winning $3.6 million (about 5 billion won) in prize money.

Scheffler, who reduced 4 strokes to 7 birdies (3 bogeys) in the 4th round on this day, has participated in the Masters five times since his first appearance in 2020 and won twice. He ranks second among all-time Masters players with the fewest two game wins. This is after Horton Smith (USA)'s '2 wins in 3 games' (1934, 1936). In terms of age, he is the fourth youngest to win two games, following Jack Nicklaus (USA), Tiger Woods (USA), and Seve Ballesteros (Spain). Schaeffler's Masters results over the past three years have been a win, a tie for 10th, and a win, and his worst performance over the past five years is a tie for 19th in the first year.

CNN and the Washington Post wrote, “It seemed like the person who would stop Scheffler from winning was not the competitors but the soon-to-be-born first child.” After coming into second place, one stroke behind on the first day, Scheffler said, “If my pregnant wife goes into labor, I will run home (to Dallas) even during the competition.” Fortunately, the unborn child waited for his father. “It was a really long week without my wife,” Scheffler said. “Winning the Masters once again and meeting my child are both joys that are difficult to express in words. “As his father, a new chapter in his life is opening,” he said, before getting on a private plane to Dallas.

Scheffler, who started with a single lead by one stroke, allowed Colin Morikawa (USA) and Overy to share the lead, then ran away with a 3m birdie on the 8th hole (par 5), and hit with 102 yards left on the 9th hole (par 4). He added a ‘shot eagle birdie’ with his second shot. The 10th hole (par 4) also had a 3m birdie. After birdies in three consecutive holes in the middle, Scheffler was alone in the lead by two strokes. He said, “I didn’t have a very good iron shot, but the 9th hole was the starting point. “The last 9 holes were very good,” he said. As he said, the second half was comfortable. He connected with a tap-in birdie on his second shot at the 14th hole (par 4), which he hit with 153 yards left, to create a 3-stroke lead with four holes remaining, and then made a putt about 3 meters away at the 16th hole (par 3) to increase the lead by 4 strokes, securing the win.

‘Masters expert’ Scheffler said, “I thought it was impossible to just keep par in the second half because the leading players were chasing me.” By dropping the iron shot exactly where it should have been, he made excellent use of the slope of the glass plate green and successfully puttted a putt from a daunting distance. Scheffler, who ranked 162nd in strokes gained by putting on the PGA Tour last season, changed 180 degrees after meeting putting coach Phil Kenyon. Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) recommended replacing it with the TaylorMade Spider Tour His results in the last four PGA Tour tournaments are championship, championship, tie for second, and championship.

It's only the beginning of the season, but the prize money has already exceeded $15 million (about 20.7 billion won). Last season's prize money was about $21 million (about 29 billion won). Nevertheless, Schaeffler likes to wear old shoes with worn out toes and drives a 2012 model sports utility vehicle (SUV) with a mileage of over 300,000 km.

Scheffler's caddy is Ted Scott, whom he met at a Bible study group. The winning bonus that caddies receive is usually 10% of the prize money. Scott will receive $1.21 million (approximately 1.67 billion won) as a winning bonus alone for Schaeffler's third win of the season. 

Overy took second place in his Masters debut, confirming that he is the best player on the tour. Among LIV Golf members, Cameron Smith (Australia) and Bryson DeChambeau (USA) performed best, tying for 6th place at 2 under par. Among Korean players, An Byeong-hoon is the best, tied for 16th at 2-over par. McIlroy finished tied for 22nd with 4 over par, putting off his career grand slam (sweeping the four major majors) again. Woods lost five strokes due to a triple bogey and finished in 60th place (16 over par), last among those who passed the cut. Today was the 100th round of the Masters, and Woods was satisfied with completing 72 holes for the first time in 14 months. He said, “It was still a good week. “I will prepare for the PGA Championship next month,” he said. 

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