Scottie Scheffler does it again, wins 2024 Masters by 4 strokes with steady final round

Scottie Scheffler was still.

He was standing just off the 11th green, his right foot crossed over his left, his body weight leaning left, being held up by his TaylorMade Spider Tour X putter. He was locked in, as if he was staring at everything and nothing at the same time.

Thing was, for once on Sunday, no one was looking at him.

Scottie Scheffeler (-11) won the 2024 Masters Tournament — his second in three years — because he is the constant. The man who can stay still when so much surrounds him. They say the calmest part of a storm is in the eye. There can be houses flying away just a mile away and trees being uprooted in the other direction. But in the eye, you are safe.

So Scheffler leaned on his putter. Just waiting. And waiting. He might as well have been doing a photo shoot.

On his left was chaos — his playing partner, Collin Morikawa (who finished tied for third at -4), was talking with a rules official about his drop after plunking his ball in the water. On his right was even more chaos. Max Homa , who was sitting in second, was stomping on a bush behind the 12th green, trying to find and grab his ball. He ended up tied with Morikawa.

And there was Scheffler. A man at ease. A man who was in the eye.

“He wasn’t looking at the (leader)board,” said Scheffler’s caddie, Ted Scott. “I was certainly looking at the board in case he asked me. He just seemed focused on doing Scottie Scheffler things.”

What is “Scottie Scheffler things?” It’s hitting some of the most majestic approach shots you’ve ever seen — like the ones on No. 9, No. 10 and No. 14 to card birdies. It’s having the distance to easily birdie most of the Par 5s. It’s finding the right putting stroke to basically never three-putt.

Scheffler is so good that, inevitably, others feel pressure. And when others feel pressure, they do rash things. They aim for pins they shouldn’t. They go for greens when they should lay up. They make decisions they shouldn’t.

Like on the 11th hole. A group ahead of Scheffler, Masters rookie Ludvig Aberg, who finished in second at 7-under, took on danger and ended up in the water. About 10 minutes later, Morikawa endured the same fate.

“(On) 11, just tried to hit too perfect of a shot,” Morikawa said. “After watching Scottie this week, I know what to do if I really want to close this gap on what he’s doing and how impressive he’s playing.”

Scheffler, 27, has been the best player in the world for over two years now. The question this week was not if he could capture another major, but how on Earth he hadn’t won one since running away with the 2022 green jacket at Augusta National.

There have been many young golfers in the past 15 years who won a flurry of majors all at once to have the well quickly dry up. Rory McIlroy won four in four years but hasn’t been a major champion in a decade. Jordan Spieth claimed three-fourths of the career grand slam in three years but hasn’t won a major since 2017.

These things are fickle.

And, yet, Scheffler is not. Two years ago, on the night before he won the Masters, he said he sat next to wife Meredith and “cried like a baby.”

“I was sitting there telling Meredith, I don’t think I’m ready for this,” he told reporters. “I’m not ready, I don’t feel like I’m ready for this kind of stuff, and I just felt overwhelmed.”

But he wasn’t overwhelmed because of Augusta National and the green jacket and the impact of his legacy. He was overcome with emotion at the thought of his comparatively quiet life in Texas changing.

“Meredith and I were just a little bit emotional about what was going on at the time because our lives were changing at a very rapid pace,” he recalled.

And, even now, as life is settled and he remains the No. 1 player in the world without changing who he is, winning another Masters wasn’t his priority this week.

Meredith Scheffler is pregnant and due “in a few weeks,” he told ESPN. And in the event she went into labor with him at the Masters, he had a plan to withdraw and leave — including how he’d get to the airport quickly and have a plane waiting to take him home to Texas.

Many will commend him for being such a devout family man. Really, it shows a man free — a man who can play golf without thinking about the noise.

And, knowing that, perhaps he is inevitable.

Payouts for the Masters

• 1st $3,600,000

• 2nd $2,160,000

• 3rd $1,360,000

• 4th $960,000

• 5th $800,000

• 6th $720,000

• 7th $670,000

• 8th $620,000

• 9th $580,000

• 10th $540,000

• 11th $500,000

• 12th $460,000

• 13th $420,000

• 14th $380,000

• 15th $360,000

• 16th $340,000

• 17th $320,000

• 18th $300,000

• 19th $280,000

• 20th $260,000

• 21st $240,000

• 22nd $224,000

• 23rd $208,000

• 24th $192,000

• 25th $176,000

• 26th $160,000

• 27th $154,000

• 28th $148,000

• 29th $142,000

• 30th $136,000

• 31st $130,000

• 32nd $124,000

• 33rd $118,000

• 34th $113,000

• 35th $108,000

• 36th $103,000

• 37th $98,000

• 38th $94,000

• 39th $90,000

• 40th $86,000

• 41st $82,000

• 42nd $78,000

• 43rd $74,000

• 44th $70,000

• 45th $66,000

• 46th $62,000

• 47th $58,000

• 48th $54,800

• 49th $52,000

• 50th $50,400

The other golfers receive money winnings ranging downward from $49,200 depending on their scores.

Masters champion list since 2000

• 2000 Vijay Singh

• 2001 Tiger Woods

• 2002 Tiger Woods

• 2003 Mike Weir

• 2004 Phil Mickelson

• 2005 Tiger Woods

• 2006 Phil Mickelson

• 2007 Zach Johnson

• 2008 Trevor Immelman

• 2009 Angel Cabrera

• 2010 Phil Mickelson

• 2011 Charl Schwartzel

• 2012 Bubba Watson

• 2013 Adam Scott

• 2014 Bubba Watson

• 2015 Jordan Spieth

• 2016 Danny Willett

• 2017 Sergio Garcia

• 2018 Patrick Reed

• 2019 Tiger Woods

• 2020 Dustin Johnson

• 2021 Hideki Matsuyama

• 2022 Scottie Scheffler

• 2023 Jon Rahm

• 2024 Scottie Scheffler