“It’s been a while since we’ve had a guy out here that tees it up and he’s supposed to win and he wins,’’ Xander Schauffele said Sunday as he and the rest of the Masters field watched Scheffler seize his second green jacket with a flawless final-round performance at Augusta National. “I feel like we’ve had a bit of a bounce-back with three or four guys for that top spot, and he’s cruising along pretty nicely.’’
Three wins in his last four starts cruising. Two Masters victories in three years cruising. A widening No. 1 world ranking lead on the rest of the pack cruising.
Scheffler won the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March and followed that by defending his Players Championship title the next week. In his next start, he missed a 6-foot putt on the final hole in Houston that would have forced a playoff and finished runner-up.
And then there was this week.
“I think he makes us better,’’ Ludvig Aberg, who finished runner-up to Scheffler, said. “He makes you want to beat him. That’s the same for me and the same for everyone else in this field.
“Obviously, Scottie is an unbelievable golf player, and I think we all expect him to be there when it comes down to the last couple holes of a tournament. He’s proven it again and again.’’
Dominance in sports is compelling.
Dominance draws attention.
Dominance rules in sports.
When Tiger Woods owned the sport en route to winning his 15 major championships, you couldn’t take your eyes off of him. That was good for golf.
Scheffler is entering that territory.
When the gusting winds were wreaking havoc on the rest of the field in Friday’s second round, sending some of the world’s best players home with scores a 12 handicapper would have shot on a calm weather day, Scheffler shot a ho-hum even-par 72 to keep himself in the tournament.
If you’re not awed by Scheffler yet, maybe you are now. His peers are.
Collin Morikawa, who entered the day one shot behind Scheffler and played in the final pairing with him, was asked what Scheffler is doing that’s so special.
“I mean, everything,’’ Morikawa said. “He drives the ball plenty long, well past me. He hits his irons obviously spectacularly. He keeps it simple, makes the putts when he needs to. He just never puts himself in trouble.’’
Morikawa, who’s a year younger than Scheffler, recalled Scheffler “always being at the top of his class’’ when they were coming up together in the game.
“He was Rolex Junior Player of the Year when we were young,’’ Morikawa said. “In our Wyndham Cup days, he was one of the best players out there. He always had it in him. A few years later, Korn Ferry Tour, obviously making a splash out here, and what he’s doing now for the past kind of couple years, let’s call it since that first Ryder Cup we were both in [in 2021].
“It’s always been there.’’
Max Homa, who played in the second-to-last pairing Sunday and began the day two shots behind Scheffler, has seen it.
Asked what impresses him most about Scheffler, Homa said, “His commitment, his mind. He is pretty amazing at letting things roll off his back and stepping up to very difficult golf shots and treating them like their own. He’s obviously a tremendous talent, but I think that is his superpower.’’
Scheffler hasn’t shot a round over par this year. That’s a ridiculous statistic. Almost unrealistic. But true.
“No rounds over par is great,’’ he said. “I can’t tell you how much I hate shooting over par. It’s nice to not experience that yet this year. I feel like I’m playing really good golf right now.
“I feel like I’m as in control of my emotions as I’ve ever been, which is a good place to be. I feel like I’m maturing as a person on the golf course, which is a good place to be. It’s hard to argue with the results of the last few weeks. I’ve been playing some nice golf.’’
“Nice’’ golf?
Dominant golf.
Scheffler might know in his heart that he’s the most dominant player in the game right now, but you’ll never hear him acknowledge it publicly. He surely doesn’t act like that.
“I try not to think about the past or the future too much,’’ Scheffler said. “I love trying to live in the present. I’ve had a really good start to the year, and I hope that I can continue on this path that I’m on.’’
