Scottie Scheffler’s uncluttered mind earns him a second Masters title in three years

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Bryson DeChambeau came to the Masters with a brand-new set of irons that weren’t even deemed legal until 72 hours before he teed off.

Collin Morikawa switched putters for the week, then, after shooting 1-under in the first round, switched again.

Max Homa spent the week near the top of the leaderboard because, he said, he’s been journaling himself to sanity.

What’s been on Scottie Scheffler’s mind?

“Nothing. Nothing,” said Rory McIlroy.

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McIlroy rode four worldwide wins in a stretch in 2022 and 2023 to a 16-week run with the world No. 1 ranking. Scheffler has held it for 52 of the last 61 weeks, including 48 in a row come Monday.

With a clear mind Sunday, Scheffler ran away from the Masters field with six birdies in his last 11 holes for a four-shot win over Masters rookie Ludvig Åberg. At 4-under, it was Scheffler’s 34th consecutive round of par or better, and he set a PGA Tour record with 28 under-par rounds last month.

“I feel like I’m in control of my emotions as I’ve ever been, which is a good place to be,” Scheffler said.

He’s simply playing on another level. After Åberg, the next three finishers — Homa, Morikawa, and Tommy Fleetwood — finished seven strokes behind, tied for third; they were a combined 12-under, and Scottie won at 11-under.

The throng on No. 18 erupted as golf’s king putted out as the shadows of the pines crept closer to the green. They knew that the last two hours had been a coronation, not a competition.

It is Scheffler’s second green jacket in three years. They are his only two major championships, but if he keeps playing carefree, expect him to be the favorite at the PGA Championship next month at Valhalla, the U.S. Open at Pinehurst in June, and the British Open at Troon in July.

And everywhere in between. He’s won three of his last four starts, and he lost the fourth in a playoff. He’s playing with a clarity seldom seen. McIlroy achieved it in streaks, like winning his four majors in three years between 2011-14, but never with the dogged consistency of Scheffler.

It’s been almost 20 years, in fact; Tiger Woods’ second era of dominance, when he won six majors and 25 tournaments in a four-year span. Whereas Tiger competed with stone-faced stoicism, Scottie plays like a guy getting a freebie at his father-in-law’s club.

Most golfers agonize over every unlucky wind gust, every bad bounce, and every weird break on the greens. Scheffler accepts the game’s annoyances the way a long-haul trucker ignores people who text-and-drive. He swings, he walks, he swings again.

What’s in his mind?

“Not a lot of clutter,” McIlroy explained. “The game feels pretty easy when you’re in stretches like this.”

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DeChambeau tied for sixth. Like McIlroy, whose 4-over score left him 22nd and still without a Masters title to complete his career grand slam, they left Augusta to wrestle with their demons.

“That’s the hard thing, whenever you’re not quite in form. You are searching and you are thinking about it so much,” McIlroy said. “But then, when you are in form, you don’t think about it at all.”

Scheffler swings a golf club like a 12-year-old boy determined to hit the range cart 400 yards away. As he shifts his weight from back to front his foot slides backward on his big toe, then he lifts it off the ground. His left foot turns over, his ankle almost touches the ground, and his left toe raises.

It is long and free and powerful and beautiful and ugly and perfect for him. It is a lesson in teaching athletic form: No jump shot or golf swing or pitching motion is perfect, so the best coaches should conform their coaching to what’s best for each pupil.

Around the greens, he’s got softer hands than a baby nurse, and he’s going to need them at home soon. His wife, Meredith, is due with their first child in two weeks, but his nerves betrayed no anxiety.

“I guess that’s a testament to how good of a head space I was in,” Scheffler said. “I wasn’t thinking about it that much.”

He just played.

Two birdies and two bogeys through eight holes left him even for the day and 7-under for the tournament, and Åberg, playing a group ahead, tied him with a downhill, right-to-left birdie bomb on hole No. 9. Scheffler evaded the drama; he stuffed his approach to 6 inches to regain the lead.

He birdied 10 for good measure as Åberg hit his approach into the water on 11 and made double-bogey for a brief four-shot spread between them. Homa was within one shot after Scheffler’s bogey on 11, but Homa hit it deep on No. 12, took a drop, made double-bogey, and was done. Scheffler birdied 13 and 14, stuck his par-3 tee shot on 16 and made the putt, and that was that.

None of his competitors was surprised.

“It’s been a while since we’ve had a guy out here that tees it up and he’s supposed to win and then wins,” said Xander Schauffle, who finished eighth.

Scheffler loves to win, but for him, winning is a byproduct of preparation. That’s as true for Thursday’s RBC Heritage as it was for the Masters.

“When I step up on the tee next week,” Scheffler said, “I’m going to be thinking about the preparation, what it took to get there, and then I’m going to go out and just try and play as freely as possible.”

Seems to be working.