Scottie Scheffler made sure the only drama Sunday came at the beginning of the final round of the Masters and not the end, as he cruised to a three-shot victory at Augusta National Golf Club.
Scheffler shot 1-under par 71 to secure his first major title, checking in at 10-under 278 for the four rounds despite a double-bogey on the last hole.
Scheffler, 25, was entered in the Masters for the third time. He has been dominant in 2022, winning three PGA Tour events and rising to the #1 world ranking even before conquering the field in the most famous tournament of them all.
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland was the runner-up after posting the best score of the day, a bogey-free 64.
Australia’s Cameron Smith (73) and Ireland’s Shane Lowry (69) shared third at 5 under. Collin Morikawa (67) placed fifth at 4 under. Will Zalatoris, who was the 2021 runner-up in his Masters debut, shot 67 to move to 3 under and tie with Canada’s Corey Conners for sixth place.
Scheffler’s biggest competition came from Smith, who trimmed a three-shot deficit to a stroke before fading. Smith posted birdies on the first two holes before Scheffler birdied the next hole and built his lead back to four strokes.
Smith found the water off the tee at the par-3 12th and made a triple bogey before adding a bogey at #14. Scheffler, after three consecutive pars on the second nine, notched birdies to Nos. 14 and 15 to climb five shots up on McIlroy with three holes to play.
McIlroy, a four-time major champion, has never won at the Masters. Yet he matched the best final round in the tournament’s history thanks in part to a 10-foot eagle putt at the par-5 13th and a birdie on the 18th hole with a shot from a greenside bunker.
Five-time Masters champion Tiger Woods shot 78 for the second day in a row. He finished in 47th place at 13 over in his return to competitive golf after a single-car accident left him with severe injuries in February 2021.
“I don’t think words can really describe that, given where I was a little over a year ago and what my prospects were at that time, to end up here and be able to play in all four rounds,” Woods said. “Even a month ago I didn’t know if I could pull this off.”