Scottie Scheffler wins 2024 Masters Tournament for 2nd win in 3 years

Scottie Scheffler secured his second Masters Tournament victory in three years on Sunday, finishing 11 under and four strokes up on his closest competitors.

The 27-year-old American was tied with Ludvig Aberg, Max Homa and Collin Morikawa coming into the eighth hole before the world no. 1 hit three straight birdies to take the lead for good. Aberg ended up placing second in his debut at the Masters. 

Scheffler has been ranked No. 1 in the world for more than two years now and also won the 2022 Masters tournament, which was his first major championship win.  

The tournament was marked by unruly weather and at least one history-making moment. Golf icon and returning Masters champion Tiger Woods opened the tournament's last leg with his 100th round at the major.

The Masters Tournament is an invitational event held yearly at the Augusta National Golf Club, a private golf course in Augusta, Georgia. Since its establishment in 1934, the tournament has grown to become one of the four most important championships in men's professional golf. The tournament typically takes place during the first week of April, so they are the first major event of every season, followed by the PGA Championships, the U.S. Open and the Open Championship, which are usually held in May, June and July, respectively. 

Scheffler and Morikawa held first and second on the 2024 Masters leaderboard, in that order, heading into the fourth round, on Sunday. They teed off in the afternoon as the last pairing of the day. Xander Schauffele and Bryson DeChambeau also began their play in a featured afternoon slot, with DeChambeau in fifth place on the leaderboard and Schauffele in sixth at the start of the round. 

Spanish golfer Jon Rahm, the 29-year-old who won the Masters tournament last year, returned to the course Sunday to defend his title, although his performances during the preceding rounds this weekend meant he was no longer competing to win. Woods had fallen out of contention, too, by the tournament's last day. After making his 24th consecutive cut on Friday, which was a new record at the championship, the star golfer went on to shoot a personal worst during the next and third round. At 48, Woods is a decorated golfing champion with five previous wins at the Masters. He teed off Sunday morning with the 23-year-old amateur Neal Shipley, commencing his 100th Masters round.

Scheffler will receive a huge cash prize in addition to the traditional green jacket, which is given to the Masters winner each year. The overall purse for the 2024 Masters is $20 million, setting a new record-high and jumping $2 million from last year's prize fund. 

The champion this year will receive $3.6 million from the purse, which is also a new record and up from the $3.2 million payout that Rahm received for his Masters win in 2023. What remained of the total $18 million purse in that case was divided among 50 golfers who participated in the tournament, with their individual scores determining how much prize money they were eventually awarded.