Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler captured his first major title on Sunday by winning the Masters in dominating fashion, holding firm down the stretch to seize the green jacket after Tiger Woods completed his comeback from severe leg injuries.
Scheffler won the Masters by three strokes Sunday, a spectacular chip shot on No. 3 giving him all the breathing room he needed to hold off first Cam Smith and then Rory McIlroy. Scheffler shot 71 in the final round, finishing at 10-under 278 for the tournament.
McIlroy was second, his best-ever finish at Augusta National. Smith unraveled in Amen Corner, winding up five strokes back in a tie for third.
The victory adds to a season of superlatives for the 25-year-old Scheffler. He got his first win on the PGA Tour two months ago at the Phoenix Open, and has now won four times in his last six starts. He reached No. 1 in the world with the March 27 rankings.
Now he has won his first major championship, the fifth player to win the Masters as the world No. 1. In addition to the green jacket, Scheffler wins $2.7 million. He also gets a lifetime exemption for the Masters, and five years of guaranteed entry into the other majors.
The 2022 Masters purse increased significantly since last year, rising from a total of $11.5 million in 2021 to a whopping $15 million this year, making it the highest purse total of all four major championships.
This year’s champion will surpass the payout received by 2021 champion, Hideki Matsuyama, by an impressive $630,000, with a $2.7 million payday. The runner-up will receive a cool $1.62 million, and third place will clear seven figures too, with a payout of $1.02 million.
Even the players who missed the cut (of which there were 37) receive a payout of $10,000 each — but that’s for the professionals only.
Scheffler, was crying and stressed out hours before Sunday’s final round of the Masters, feeling overwhelmed and convinced he wasn’t ready to win the green jacket. The 25-year-old American, the poster of keeping calm and carrying on while upon the course, shook off his anxiety and a nervous 4 putt to win his first major title on Sunday at Augusta National.
Scheffler, who won his first US PGA title only eight weeks ago and took his fourth on Sunday, said he had never endured such angst before a final round, especially carrying a three-stroke advantage into the last round of the event he most dreamed about winning since boyhood.
Just before 2021 champion Hideki Matsuyama of Japan slipped the green jacket symbolic of Masters supremacy on his shoulders, Scheffler said he was glad for needing three tries from inside five feet on the 18th green to hole his last putt.
We look forward to May, 18 as Southern Hills in Tulsa, OK hosts the 2022 PGA Championship. We can’t wait to see if Scottie Scheffler can go back to back in Majors in 2022.
My Goat Sports 