Masters Winners, Losers: Scottie Scheffler Is Golf’s Tom Brady

Scottie Scheffler is inevitable, and for the second time in four years, he’s the Masters champion.

The best golfer in the world looked the part on his way to a legacy-building win at the 2024 Masters, further cementing his place in golf history. Now, the collective mind wanders as to how good the big Texan can be.

Let’s get into winners and losers from a fabulous week at Augusta National Golf Club.

WINNER: Scottie Scheffler
He won the tournament, so he is a winner. Scheffler is looking more and more like the Tom Brady of golf, at least for his generation. He’s dominant, truly elite and a threat to win every championship in which he plays. There’s not one skill or trait that stands out above the rest, but the totality of Scheffler’s brilliance — much like Brady — is what separates him from his peers. There’s also the ability to win in just about any setting. After a rainy Thursday, the sun came out Friday, but the wind gusts remained. The course dried up and played as firm and fast as it has in years. The field averaged 75 on Friday and 74 on Thursday; Scheffler played the two days at 72 and 71. On the “No Laying Up” podcast Sunday night, Todd Schuster lamented Max Homa’s conservative play Saturday, saying he thought Homa was “trying to win the turnover battle.” The thing about Scheffler — and Brady was the same way — is that he can succeed simply by winning the turnover battle. As he showed Sunday, though, he can also win a shootout; Scheffler iced the 2024 Masters with a simply brilliant run from the eighth hole on, in which he played the final 10 holes at 5-under with six birdies. He played the ninth, 10th and 11th — the hardest three-hole stretch on the course — at 1-under. Like Brady, Scheffler excels at taking what is given to him, playing the game in front of him and doing it better than anyone else on (or in) the field.

LOSER: Anyone wanting to see drama Sunday
It has been a while since we’ve seen drama on 18 at Augusta National. You probably have to go back to Patrick Reed winning in 2018. It looked like we were going to have it Sunday when Scheffler bogeyed No. 7, dropping him back to 6-under, tied with Ludvig Aberg and Collin Morikawa, with Max Homa just a shot back. The trio of Aberg, Morikawa and Homa played the rest of the tournament at 2-over, while Scheffler went 5-under the rest of the way, and that was pretty much that.

WINNER: Augusta National Golf Club
The rich get richer. Augusta always looks resplendent, but this is the best it has played in years. The weather has been a major storyline for what feels like a decade at this point. Aside from rain that delayed Thursday’s start, it was a picture-perfect spring weekend in Georgia. That accentuated one of the world’s best golf courses, with the firm-and-fast conditions presenting the perfect test. The final leaderboard suggests as much, too. The top 10 is littered with the planet’s top ball-strikers.

Good morning and welcome to the final round of the 88th Masters Tournament. #themasters pic.twitter.com/XqFc20JRfS

— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 14, 2024

WINNER (despite losing): Ludvig Aberg
The Scheffler-Brady comp might make even more sense if Aberg is able to continue his ascent. The Swede is a Texas Tech alum and looks like he could be on a career path similar to fellow Red Raider, Patrick Mahomes. Aberg is just 24 years old and finished solo second in not only his first Masters start but his first career major. His only hiccup was a devastating one, yanking it into the pond on No. 11 to essentially end his bid to become the first Masters debutant to win it since 1979. It’s telling and deserved that only five players have shorter odds to win the PGA Championship, and it probably won’t be long before betting action moves Aberg up the board before next month at Valhalla.

LOSER: Jon Rahm
There’s no shame in Rahm’s inability to repeat as Masters champion. It hasn’t happened in two decades. If there’s anyone who’s second-guessing their jump to LIV, though, it has to be Rahm. The 2023 champion is quite particular about the tournaments he plays in the lead-up to majors and being relegated to the LIV schedule sure looked like a factor this weekend. Rahm just didn’t look as sharp as we’ve become accustomed to seeing him. His post-round comments Friday were a little curious, with Rahm questioning whether they should have been out there with how hard the wind was gusting. He ultimately took the blame for his own play, but by going to LIV at the height of his career, he does open himself up to everyone else second-guessing his decision when he doesn’t play his best at the biggest tournaments when everyone is involved. That’s what the money is for, though.

LOSER: Tyrrell Hatton
One person who won’t ever call Augusta National a “winner” is Hatton, who still managed to put together a top-10 finish. But this guy just hates Augusta, and he’s not afraid to let anyone else know about it. He’s never been considered mild-mannered, but it feels like he was especially petty this weekend, bordering on childish with how he reacted to his play on the course. It’s just every shot or putt that doesn’t go exactly how he wants it is a personal affront from the golf course. To be able to still finish top-10 with that sort of mindset makes you wonder if Hatton is holding himself back with his mental approach.

WINNERS: Matthieu Pavon and Adam Schenk
The top 12 get invited back to next year’s Masters. Pavon and Schenk were in the house at 1-over but looked to be on the outside of that all-important top 12. Then Cam Davis made a mess of 18, signing for a double-bogey on his way in to finish at 1-over. The double essentially got Pavon and Schenk into the field for 2025.

WINNER: Weekday Tiger Woods
We touched on this earlier in the week, but Woods’ performance on Thursday and Friday was impressive, even if it wasn’t the vintage dominance that has been a hallmark of his legendary career. Woods broke the consecutive cuts record despite having played less competitive golf over the last year and a half than anyone else in the field. The rust was evident Thursday when Woods lost to the field on approach but saved himself with short-game brilliance. The weather delay Thursday put him in the tough position of having to play 23 holes on Friday, and he was able to cobble it all together with an even better day around the greens when the driver failed him. He probably doesn’t have the firepower to win anymore, but for a day or two, that championship resilience was still there.

LOSER: Weekend Tiger Woods
Ultimately, Woods called his 2024 Masters a “good week all around” despite finishing dead last on the heels of a Saturday 82, the worst major round of his storied career. He certainly didn’t look healthy on the weekend, which is to be expected. The 23-hole Friday took its toll physically, underscoring just how much has to go right for Woods to contend at his age and physical status.

LOSER: Max Homa
(ducks)
The internet loves Homa. He goes on your favorite podcasts, he’s your favorite follow on X, and he seems like a genuinely nice person. That should be celebrated, and boy is it. But he might have kind of the anti-Hatton thing going on right now. Homa is deep in the sports psychology game, and anyone who has watched his career arc knows it’s working for him. Maybe someday he finally breaks through and wins a major. The arrow is finally pointing up after some poor performances in the biggest tournaments. He went golf viral Saturday for saying he believed he’d play well Sunday because he’s “a dog” and then went out and shot 73. He was one shot behind Scheffler going into Saturday and finished seven back by the weekend’s end. After the final round, he posted a long Instagram post that winning is “fickle” and “winning doesn’t always come with a trophy.” That’s probably the right attitude for the long run, and process over results has worked for a lot of athletes. But one does wonder whether Homa is almost overthinking it all, especially when you hear Scheffler have such a matter-of-fact approach. Or maybe Homa is trying to convince himself of something that Scheffler already or just naturally believes. Just a (probably unpopular) thought.