Masters 2022 LIVE: Leaderboard and scores as Scottie Scheffler beats Rory McIlroy to win the green jacket
Follow live reaction as Scottie Scheffler sealed a dominant Masters victory after holding off a thrilling late surge from Rory McIlroy
Scottie Scheffler has won The Masters after holding off the challenge of Cameron Smith and a sublime final-round performance from Rory McIlroy at Augusta to secure a first major title.
It completes a stunning rise and caps a dominant run for the 25-year-old American, who in the space of 56 days has won his first professional tournament at the Phoenix Open, reached number one in the world rankings after a further two wins in four starts, and now claimed the green jacket.
McIlroy, who started his round at +1 and at one point this week was 13 shots off the pace, carded a wonderful seven-under-64 to claim a surprise second-place finish with the joint-lowest final round in Masters history.
His magnficant charge was sealed as he chipped in for birdie from the 18th bunker but ultimately his run came too late in the day and his wait for an elusive Masters title goes on. Scheffler wrapped his victory over the closing five holes and finished three shots clear with a total score of -10, even if required a four-putt double bogey at the last.
Follow live reaction from the final round of The Masters below:
Masters 2022: Smith previews battle with Scheffler
Cameron Smith has already proved he has the game for the big occasion after winning the Players Championship earlier this season and the Australian has put himself into contention following yesterday’s sublime 68.
Smith also has the experience of finishing runner-up to Dustin Johnson in The Masters in 2020 and will be looking to go one step further today at August.
“I think you have to stay really patient through the front. There are a couple of birdie opportunities, but I think the back nine is obviously where the tournament will be decided," he said. "You can give yourself plenty of looks if you’re hitting it good.
“Hopefully everything just falls into place. I can’t control what anyone else is going to do tomorrow. So just go out there and really focus on myself.”
Masters 2022: Lowry frustrated to be seven shots behind
Shane Lowry was just three shots behind Scottie Scheffler early in his round yesterday, before a string of bogeys on his back nine saw him to fall seven shots off the pace.
Still, the former Open champion, will be looking to secure a top-5 finish today.
"I’m still lying top five at the Masters so it’s pretty good showing so far," he told RTÉ Sport yesterday.
"The long and short of it is that I feel like I played the golf today to be going out in the final group tomorrow.
"I was a bit average on the back nine. It is what it is, nothing I can do about it now. I’ll have a late tee time tomorrow again and I’ll shoot the best score that I can.
"I’m excited about where my game is but people don’t realise how much I want this so it’s just hard to take right now."
Masters 2022: Scheffler is relishing ‘fight’ with Smith
“It should be a great fight,” Scheffler said after his 71. “Obviously Cam is a tremendous player, he’s got a fantastic short game and he’s coming off a huge win at The Players.
“Both of us are in good form so I’m definitely looking forward to the challenge of playing with him. For me, being in this position, it’s nice to be in control of the golf tournament.
“And all I’m trying to do out there is be committed to my shots and execute, and after that it’s not really up to me.”
Masters 2022: Scheffler is relishing ‘fight’ with Smith
World No 1 Scottie Scheffler said he was relishing a “fight” with nearest rival Cameron Smith as he closed in on a first major title in the The Masters.
Scheffler was six shots clear of the field after eight holes of the third round at Augusta National, but eventually had to settle for a three-stroke advantage as the Australian produced the lowest round of the day – a 68 – in testing conditions.
Scottie Scheffler is relishing ‘fight’ with Cameron Smith at The Masters
The American had to settle for a three-stroke advantage as Smith produced Saturday’s lowest round – a 68 – in testing conditions
Masters 2022: ‘I had zero feel for greens’ – Tiger Woods putting woes lead to worst Masters score
Tiger Woods admitted he had “zero feel” for the greens at Augusta National as he slumped to his worst ever score at The Masters.
Woods four-putted the fifth hole and three-putted six times in a miserable third round of 78, eclipsing his previous highest score of 77 on his debut as an amateur in 1995.
The 46-year-old at least maintained his sense of humour when asked what he struggled with, replying with a smile: “I was hitting too many putts.
“It was like practice putting. I hit 1,000 putts out there today. I just had zero feel for the greens and it showed. I did what I needed to do ball striking-wise, but I did absolutely the exact opposite on the greens.
“I just could not get a feel for getting comfortable with the ball. Posture, feel, my right hand, my release, I just couldn’t find it. With as many putts as I had you’d think I’d have figured it out somewhere along the line, but it just didn’t happen.”
Masters 2022: How to watch online and on TV in the UK today
Scottie Scheffler will take a three-shot lead into the final round of The Masters as he bids to cement his position as world No 1 with a first major title.
Scheffler was the sixth player in tournament history to hold a five-shot lead at the halfway stage, with four of the previous five going on to claim the green jacket at Augusta National.
The 25-year-old American looked odds on to make it five out of six as he extended his lead to six shots after eight holes on Saturday and was still five ahead with five holes to play, but a late stumble at least partially opened the door for the chasing pack.
Australia’s Cameron Smith is his nearest challenger, three strokes behind following a superb 68 - the only competitor to break 70 - with South Korea’s Sungjae Im two shots further back following a 71.
Here’s how to watch on TV tonight
How to watch The Masters 2022 online and on TV in the UK today
Everything you need to know ahead of the final round at Augusta National
Masters 2022 tee times: Full schedule for Day 4
3.10pm BST: Cameron Davis, Adam Scott
3.20pm BST: Tyrrell Hatton, Billy Horschel
3.30pm BST: Patrick Cantlay, Mackenzie Hughes
3.40pm BST: Max Homa, Bubba Watson
3.50pm BST: Jon Rahm, Tiger Woods
4pm BST: Russell Henley, Daniel Berger
4.10pm BST: Robert MacIntyre, Harold Varner III
4.20pm BST: Tom Hoge, Sepp Straka
4.30pm BST: Kevin Na, Seamus Power
4.50pm BST: Joaquin Niemann, Christiaan Bezuidenhout
5pm BST: Kevin Kisner, Matthew Fitzpatrick
5.10pm BST: Tony Finau, Sergio Garcia
5.20pm BST: Lucas Glover, Patrick Reed
5.30pm BST: JJ Spaun, Min Woo Lee
5.40pm BST: Harry Higgs, Lee Westwood
5.50pm BST: Si Woo Kim, Hudson Swafford
6pm BST: Marc Leishman, Talor Gooch
6.10pm BST: Hideki Matsuyama, Viktor Hovland
6.30pm BST: Webb Simpson, Will Zalatoris
6.40pm BST: Dustin Johnson, Cameron Champ
6.50pm BST: Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa
7pm BST: Tommy Fleetwood, Jason Kokrak
7.10pm BST: Corey Conners, Danny Willett
7.20pm BST: Charl Schwartzel, Justin Thomas
7.40pm BST: Scottie Scheffler, Cameron Smith
Good afternoon
Good afternoon and welcome to The Independen’t live coverage of the final round of The Masters as Scottie Scheffler aims to win a first major title and cement his status as World No. 1 at Augusta National. Scheffler takes a three-shot lead into the last day after reaching -9 thanks to a round of 1, but late a stumble at the 18th hole has opened the door to Cameron Smith who shot a suberb 68 to emerge as the leading challenger.
Both players arrived at Augusta in excellent form, with Scheffler winning three of his last five starts and Smith recently claiming the Players Championship, and the American was set to take a commanding lead into the final day before finding the trees and making a bogey at the final hole. Sungjae Jim is five shots behind Scheffler in third place while Shane Lowry and Charl Schwarzel came into the final day a further shot off the pace.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments