Well it was a good dream. A fun dream. A nice hypothetical to believe that somebody else other than Scottie Scheffler would emerge with the win on Masters Sunday.
Alas, the 2024 Masters Tournament was a complete and utter blowout in the end, with Scottie Scheffler backing up his 2022 green jacket with yet another one. Scheffler pulled away on the back nine as all the top contenders backslid, carding a four-under 68 in the final round to reach 11 under overall for a four-stroke victory.
Scheffler denied Ludvig Aberg, who was three clear of the rest of the field, of an epic triumph in his major debut. Collin Morikawa’s third leg of the career Grand Slam wasn’t meant to be either, as he settled for joint third place with good lad Tommy Fleetwood and most of America’s rooting interest, Max Homa.
With his wife Meredith possibly going into labor at any time, Scheffler promised he’d flee Augusta National if it came to pass. Unfortunately for the other Masters hopefuls, that’s about all that could’ve derailed or denied Scottie from that second green jacket.
Since he isn’t the most quotable dude ever and flat-out smoked everybody down the stretch, there honestly isn’t much to say other than to recap how nobody stood a chance against the golfer who’s emerged from a crowded lineup of superstars as the unquestioned greatest on the planet right now. Thus, it seemed most interesting to examine just how dominant Scheffler has been en route to his second Masters win through the filter of statistics.
This exercise is kind of bland, kind of exciting at the same time. Kind of like Scottie Scheffler! How apropos. No offense, Scottie. I just don’t know what to do with you, man. You’re too good. Guess we gotta embrace the fella. He ain’t going anywhere.
Statistical sicko Justin Ray has us covered to kick things off:
I used to think when Jordan Spieth was younger that he was inevitable and would be inevitable for the rest of his prime, and he wound up being a total golfing basket case. Can’t say I see that happening with someone as even-keeled as Scheffler. His golf swing is not aesthetically pleasing, yet he seldom misses the square middle of the club face.
How about this little cross-pollination of sports analogy that puts Scottie’s reign of terror over the game of golf in an NFL quarterbacking context?
In other words, with how far out in front Scottie is statistically from the rest of the PGA Tour, he’d be averaging the NFL QB equivalent of 914.8 passing yards per game. What the hell does that even mean? How is that even possible? It doesn’t make total sense and probably isn’t the best analogy. So what? It’s impressive nevertheless.
If you’re not a big on-course, performance-based aficionado, how about the bottom line on Scheffler’s accounts and those of his caddie, Ted Scott? Bonus: Scottie had Ted join him on his victorious walk through the gallery once he’d finished up.
How about going W-W-T2-W in his last four starts? Is that any good? That’s rarefied air typically reserved for Prime Tiger Woods and nary anyone else.
Speaking of Tiger, how about another anecdote that puts Scottie in his company?
Even before this year’s Masters got underway, Scottie was also a prohibitive favorite on par with how Tiger was perceived in his heyday.
That type of respect from the bookmakers in and of itself is a compliment. To actually back it up and reward the slightly greater than one in four bettors who took the plunge on Scheffler to win outright? What a flex.
The fields are much deeper nowadays than they were in Tiger’s prime, or at least they were until the LIV schism. There’s still that quality depth for majors, though. We’ve never seen more star power in golf, and really, Tiger set a new standard for what was possible to inspire whole generations to up their games into a new stratosphere.
If you can believe it, Scottie actually faced some adversity very early in his career. Shout out to Monday Q Info for giving us a glimpse back at a simpler time, when the baby-faced 27-year-old who kind of looks 37 started annihilating everyone in his path.
So yeah, despite Masters Sunday being ultimately anticlimactic, Scottie Scheffler is the truth. He’s got the goods. He’s going to win many more majors. The numbers don’t lie. In fact, they suggest that nobody will consistently stop him.
