Just when it seemed like Scottie Scheffler’s 2022 couldn’t get any better, it did in the biggest possible way.
Scheffler won his fourth tournament in eight starts this year on Sunday, claiming the green jacket with a comfortable win at the 2022 Masters. The game's No. 1-ranked player won by three strokes over Rory McIlroy, who shot a stellar 8-under 64 on Sunday for the only bogey-free round of the tournament.
The 25-year-old Scheffler entered the day three strokes ahead of Cameron Smith, who had won two of his four starts this year — the Sentry Tournament of Champions and PLAYERS Championship.
After two holes on Sunday, Scheffler’s lead was down to one. Smith birdied each of the first two holes to get to 8-under, while Scheffler made par on both to stay at 9-under. At that point, Scheffler had dropped from a -250 betting favorite entering the day to just -115.
The third hole changed the tournament, though. Both players pulled their drives well left, and their second shots were short of the green. Scheffler was first, and he delivered an incredible chip-in for birdie.
WHAT A SHOT FROM SCHEFFLER FOR BIRDIE 🤯pic.twitter.com/DDAuatdPzk
— GolfBet (@GolfBet) April 10, 2022
Smith, meanwhile, chipped his ball past the hole and missed the following putt for par.
There was one other moment where it seemed Smith could have put some pressure on Scheffler. The Australian delivered an impressive birdie on No. 11, a par 4 that played as one of the most difficult holes on the course this year.
Unfortunately, Rae’s Creek claimed Smith as its last victim of 2022. He went into the water and made a triple bogey, moving him down to a tie for third.
Rae’s Creek takes another victim at #TheMasters
Cam Smith hits it in the water on 12 💧 pic.twitter.com/nj9L2XWEFD
— GolfBet (@GolfBet) April 10, 2022
Scheffler was fourth in total bets at PointsBet and third on the liability list at BetMGM. Separate bettors at BetMGM and FanDuel laid $50,000 on Scheffler at +1500 before the tournament to win the green jacket.
With the win, Scheffler reached the $10 million mark for the year in just eight starts. Last year, Jon Rahm was the money leader on the PGA TOUR with $7.7 million.
Next up on Scheffler’s schedule is the Zurich Classic, which is a team event that he’ll be playing alongside Ryan Palmer, from April 21-24. He’ll likely be in the field at the AT&T Byron Nelson in mid-May, which is the week before the 2022 PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla.
Scottie Scheffler Major Odds
As of 6:15 p.m. ET on Sunday night, Scheffler was +1400 for golf’s next two majors — the PGA Championship in May and the US Open in June at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass.
Scheffler’s number for the Open Championship in June was a little higher at +1800.
Since golf returned from the pandemic in June 2020, Scheffler has now posted five top-10 finishes in seven major starts. Ironically, his two non-top-10 finishes in that span came at the Masters in ’20 and ’21.
Scheffler’s two starts at the PGA Championship ended T4 and T8. He was T7 at Torrey Pines for last year’s US Open, and he finished T8 in his Open Championship debut last year.
