The chronicle will say that Scottie Scheffler took the 86th edition of the Masters scoring 71 strokes on the final day by beating Rory McIlroy by three. What the chronicle won't say is that this 25-year-old sailed the fairways of Augusta National Golf Club as if he were a veteran.
The winner came out on Sunday with three ahead of Australian Smith and after two chapters the difference had narrowed to just one. It was on 3 when the first sign came that the day would belong to Scheffler. He missed his first two shots in that par 4, but played a third masterful shot from outside the Green. A mistake by his rival in the next gave him the three shots ahead with which he had started. Ahead was little by and only Irishman Rory McIlroy scored 32 in the first 9 holes, but he had started the day at 10 strokes and he was still far away. Scheffler completed the first 9 holes in two under par, but by that time McIlroy had placed himself at 5 strokes.
Tradition says that the Masters really starts on Sunday on the 10th tee and the first three chapters of the comeback are where many Masters have missed. On that 10th hole the leader made the first mistake of the day and when the 11th green failed the alarms went off. Smith managed to birdie there and Scheffler hit a difficult putt to save the pair. The 12th marked the end for Smith who left his starting shot in the water, while Scheffler drove again to save himself. It seemed judged because McIlroy didn't get birdies ahead, but the Irishman drove a masterful shot from the arena on the 18th and signed a 64-stroke card, the lowest for a Sunday in championship history, to finish with a total of 281 strokes.
At that time Scheffler was at 14 and had 3 advantage over McIlroy. The pressure was at its peak, but Scheffler is going through a dream time. He made birdies in that hole and the next hole to secure the Masters. He got 5 ahead of the final hole and when he put the ball on the green with his second shot he relaxed and began to enjoy the victory. She relaxed so much that I need 4 putts to be able to put her in.
There it was time for the celebration with his wife, his family, coach and everyone who had accompanied him during the week. Those who are not familiar with golf might think that being the N1 in the world ranking it makes sense for him to win, but in this sport rankings sometimes matter little. The story goes that since the first world ranking appeared in 1986, only 4 players had reached Augusta to the top of the ranking and had managed to win the Masters.
On Sunday Scottie Scheffler entered the exclusive winners club and knows that he will have a guaranteed place in the Masters for life. Beyond the 2.7 million dollars he received as a prize.
The dream that began when he won his first tournament two months ago continues.