Scottie Scheffler was willing to put Green Jackets, Masters lore and the purse that comes with it all aside for his family — namely, his soon-coming, newborn baby.
Scheffler had repeatedly insisted during his week at Augusta National that if his wife, Meredith, were to go into labor, he was going to drop everything and head back home to be by her side for the birth of their first child.
And it wasn’t hyperbole.
“Yeah, I definitely have a way to get home pretty quickly,” Scheffler said after Saturday’s third round at Augusta National. “We have somebody here that has access to their cell phone, if that’s alright. And, yes, I’ll be available to go home then whenever I need to.”
When asked if he thought she would call, he quipped, “She better call.”
Perhaps, the first call between the two will be one of congratulations as Scheffler methodically pulled away from what started as a crowded leaderboard Sunday morning to win his second Green Jacket in the last three years.
The 27-year old Scheffler won by four strokes and became the fourth-youngest golfer to win the Masters twice, behind Jack Nicklaus, Seve Ballesteros and Tiger Woods.
Scheffler, Nicklaus and Woods are also the only golfers to boast two Green Jackets and a pair of Players Championships.
When he began Championship Sunday, it looked like it would be a day of closely contested golf. Scheffler came in with a 54-hole total of 7-under 209, and Collin Morikawa, Max Homa, Ludwig Aberg and Bryson DeChambeau were all just a stroke behind each other in descending order.
There was a time when Scheffler, Aberg and Morikawa were tied at 6 under at the 7th hole before Scheffler carded three straight birdies from holes 8-10. He bogeyed at 11, but then recovered with par at the 12th and made consecutive birdies at 13 and 14.
By the time Scheffler got to 15, he was 10 under par and three strokes ahead of Ludvig Aberg. Meanwhile, Aberg’s double bogey at 11 helped give Scheffler the smidge of room he needed to truly pull away.
For players like Bryson DeChambeau, it’ll likely be a Sunday of “what ifs.” When you look at the Dallas resident’s final score card, it looks respectable. But it could’ve been so much better. Until he lost a stroke at 17, DeChambeau made par at every hole since No. 6. Prior to the sixth, he birdied at 4 and 5 and made it look like a chase with Scheffler for the Green Jacket would ensue.
But his par shots, particularly on the back nine, came primarily because he missed several attempts for birdies and eagles that would’ve moved him up the board. Instead, his inability to capitalize gave place for Masters first-timer Aberg, Homa and Morikawa to give chase to Scheffler until Scheffler’s relentless consistency began to separate him from the pack.
Not only did Scheffler’s play separate him from the pack at Augusta National, but it also separated him from the rest of a talented field of professional golfers as the true, undisputed World No. 1.
Stay tuned for more on Scheffler’s performance and our concluding coverage of the 88th Masters.
