A Great Run Continues

Scottie Scheffler outlasted them all, not even a 4 putt on the last hole of the tournament could stop the World No. 1 from grabbing his first major at The Masters this past weekend. That makes it four wins in his last six tournament starts, including a major title and a World Golf Championship (WGC Dell Technologies Match Play). The only other golfer to ever win four times in a season with a major and a WGC title? Tiger Woods.

Alas, Tiger has accomplished that feat eight times (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008), so while Scottie’s feat is no small accomplishment, he’s got a way to go to catch the greatest to ever do it! Scheffler won his first tournament as the World No. 1, and even eclipsed Bobby Locke’s record of 59 days between the first tour title and the fourth tour title. Scheffler did it in 57 days this year, while Locke set that record in 1947, over half a century ago.

Tournament Recap

Conditions were tough all week for the players—they battled strong winds, cold temperatures, and periods of rain—but Scottie remained steady and didn’t let his position get the best of him. Scheffler finished the tournament at -10 under par to finish three shots ahead of Rory McIlroy.

Scheffler couldn’t be matched for the week total though. Rory had the round of the week on Sunday, shooting a sizzling -8 under par 64 to zoom up the leaderboard and finish in solo second. Rory started the day 10 shots back of the Scheffler, and he said, “I don’t think I’ve ever walked away from this tournament as happy as I am today.” His Sunday 64 also included this incredible hole-out birdie on the 72nd hole.

Cam Smith played alongside Scheffler in the final round. Smith seems to be the second hottest player on the planet right now, and he was within just a few shots of Scheffler on Sunday until Rae’s Creek on Hole 12 claimed another victim. That unfortunately timed triple bogey on the par 3 ultimately knocked Smith out of contention and gave Scheffler a five-shot lead with six holes remaining.

A story from Darren Rovell mentioned that someone in Vegas put down a bet on Scheffler and Smith to finish 1-2, however that triple bogey dropped Smith to -5 and he finished in a tie for third—costing that bettor a $93,000 payday. Not to mention, that dropped Smith’s tournament purse payout from $1.6 million to $1.02 million…a $600,000 chunked 9-iron into the water, ouch!

Tiger made his first start in over a year, unfortunately, he finished at +13 over with a tournament total of 301 strokes. That is the highest score at the Masters in his career and the second-highest total ever for a tournament. But the bigger story is that just 14 months after a car crash, when there were rumors about him losing his leg, he is still playing competitive golf—and he made the cut and finished the tournament in good health! After the round, he committed to playing The Open Championship in July and claimed to be “still deciding” on next month’s PGA Championship.

Shot of the Week

The shot of the week belongs to Stewart Cink. He made an ace on the 16th hole with his son Reagan caddying for him. It was also Reagan’s birthday that day! A pretty special moment for the Cink’s!

What’s in Scheffler’s Bag?

I feel like I should have this memorized by now! With so many Scheffler wins it’s pretty easy to stay on top of his equipment—especially with Scottie being the type of golfer who doesn’t fiddle with his equipment very much!

• Driver: Taylormade Stealth Plus (8 Degree Loft), Fujikura Ventus Black 7X

• 3-Wood: Taylormade Stealth Plus (16.5 Degree Loft), Fujikura Ventus Black 8X

• Utility: Srixon Z U85 (20 Degree Loft), Nippon Pro Modus3 Tour Hybrid Tour X

• Irons: Srixon ZX7 4-Iron, Taylormade P7TW (5-PW), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

• Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM8 (50- 12 Bounce F-Grind; 56 - 14 Bounce F-Grind; 60-06 Bounce K-Grind), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

• Putter: Scotty Cameron Special Select Timeless Tourtype GSS Prototype

The Tour heads to the RBC Heritage Open at Harbour Town. Stewart Cink will be defending his 2021 victory at Harbour Town Golf Links, but the odds-on favorite will be Cam Smith as he looks to avenge his finish at Augusta. Stay tuned for coverage of The PGA Championship at Southern Hills on May 19-22. Southern Hills last hosted The PGA Championship in 2007 with a trophy hoisted by Tiger Woods.

If you have any questions about the gear that Scheffler has been using to set the golfing world on fire or any other gear-related questions, please reach out to me or any of our other great Golf Experts here on Curated!