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AUGUSTA, Ga. — A victory at the 2024 Masters seemed inevitable for Scottie Scheffler.

The Texan has been ranked No. 1 in the world for more than 80 weeks during his short career. He’d won eight times on the PGA Tour since February 2022, a stretch that saw him become the first golfer ever to win the Players Championship in back-to-back years.

Scheffler is regarded as perhaps golf’s best ballstriker since Tiger Woods in his prime, and Scheffler’s magical hands around the greens also have drawn comparison to you-know-who.

Until Sunday, Scheffler had only one major championship victory, the 2022 Masters, which might have been the only reason anyone would doubt his status as the game’s next generational star.

After entering Sunday’s final round of the 88th Masters at Augusta National Golf Club in a three-way tie for the lead, Scheffler ran away from the other contenders on the second nine to win a second green jacket in three years.

Scheffler carded a 4-under 68 over the final 18 holes to beat Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg by 4 strokes. Aberg, who was an amateur at Texas Tech a year ago, was attempting to become the first golfer to win the Masters in his debut since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979. Aberg posted a 3-under 69 in the final round.

Max Homa, Collin Morikawa and Tommy Fleetwood tied for third at 4 under.

“I did my best to stay calm out there,” Scheffler said from Butler Cabin before 2023 champion Jon Rahm gave him the green jacket. “I did my best to stay patient on the course. And I was able to make some key shots and key putts today to keep my round going.

“Ludvig played great today. He made a move on me on the back nine, and I was fortunate to hold him off there toward the end.”

At 27, Scheffler became the fourth-youngest golfer to win multiple green jackets; only Jack Nicklaus (25 years, 81 days), Woods (25 years, 100 days) and Seve Ballesteros (26 years, 2 days) were younger.

Scheffler claimed his second Masters title in only his fifth start at Augusta National, which is the second-fewest starts needed to accomplish the feat in the tournament’s history. Horton Smith won two of the first three Masters, in 1934 and 1936.

Scheffler also became only the fifth golfer in Masters history to win multiple green jackets by 3 strokes or more, joining Woods (1997 and 2002), Ballesteros (1980 and 1983), Nicklaus (1965 and 1972) and Sam Snead (1949 and 1952).

“Obviously, Scottie is an unbelievable golf player, and I think we all expect him to be there when it comes down to the last couple holes of a tournament,” Aberg said. “He’s proven it again and again, and I think he makes us better. He makes you want to beat him, obviously, and that’s the same for me and the same for everyone else in this field.”

In the past 35 days, Scheffler has won three times against elite fields at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the Players and now the Masters.

“It’s just what he’s been doing,” said Xander Schauffele, who finished eighth at 1 under. “It’s been a while since we’ve had a guy out here that tees it up and he’s supposed to win and he wins.”

What is Scheffler doing so well?

“I mean, everything,” Morikawa said. “He drives the ball plenty, plenty long, well past me. Hits his irons obviously spectacular, keeps it simple, makes the putts when he needs to. If he doesn’t, still has plenty of chances, and just never put himself in trouble.”

The final two pairings of Aberg-Homa and Scheffler-Morikawa made their way to Amen Corner (hole Nos. 11 to 13) shortly before 5 p.m. ET. By the time they left, only one of them — Scheffler — still had a prayer to win.

Aberg made the first big mistake when his sweeping shot from 216 yards went too far left and bounced into a pond at the par-4 11th. He made a double-bogey 6 and fell 4 shots behind Scheffler.

A short while later, Morikawa hit his approach shot from nearly the same spot as Aberg. He yelled, “Damn it,” after his ball took flight and watched it bounce into the pond. The result was his second double bogey in three holes — he couldn’t get out of a greenside bunker on No. 9 on his first try — as he fell 5 shots behind Scheffler.

“Greed got the best of me,” Morikawa said. “Nine, can’t miss it over there and can’t leave it in the bunker. Eleven, just tried to hit too perfect of a shot. It’s not like at that point I was trying to press. I knew where I stood. Yeah, it’s just can’t do that.”

Then on the 12th hole, where swirling winds, a narrow green and the intimidating Rae’s Creek have spoiled many Masters hopefuls’ dreams over the years, Homa’s chances took a devastating blow. He didn’t hit a bad tee shot on the shortest par-3 on the course, but his ball leaped high off the sunbaked green and settled in vines on a bank.

After watching his ball bounce hard off the green, Homa asked his caddie, Joe Greiner, “Where did it go?”

After a couple of minutes, Homa found it in the thick ground covering, but he had to take an unplayable lie and a 1-stroke penalty. His chip shot got caught up in the fringe, and he two-putted for a double-bogey 5 to drop to 5 under.

“The honest answer is it didn’t feel fair,” Homa said. “I hit a really good golf shot, and it didn’t feel fair. I’ve seen far worse just roll back down the hill. Yeah, the professional answer is these things happen.”

Scheffler made a bogey of his own at the 11th when he missed the green, chipped to 9 feet and missed a par putt. He played it safely on the 12th and made par.

Scheffler ended any doubts about winning again when he made back-to-back birdies on Nos. 13 and 14. On the par-5 13th, he reached the green in 2 shots and two-putted for a birdie to move to 9 under. Then on the par-4 14th, he spun his approach shot to a foot and tapped in to go to 10 under.

By then, Scheffler’s lead was 3 over Aberg and 5 over Homa and Morikawa.

Scheffler added another birdie on the par-3 16th, and what had seemed inevitable for so long was now reality.

It’s amazing how quickly a Stefon Diggs trade analysis reveals the state of mind of both the Houston Texans and the Buffalo Bills. While Diggs has some work to do if he wants to be considered among the greatest WRs of all time, he’s been to the Pro Bowl in four straight seasons and is in the prime of his career.

Including free agents, he could end up being one of the best players to change teams this offseason.

Who Won the Stefon Diggs Trade?

As always, only time will tell how this trade will play out. But what side appears to be the winner of the Diggs trade to the Texans?

At first glance, Houston is the obvious winner because they’re acquiring a great wide receiver and a couple of late-round draft picks for a second-round pick that wasn’t even theirs in the first place. However, let’s conduct a deeper Stefon Diggs trade analysis that looks at each team’s perspective.

Why the Texans Won

The obvious reason why the Texans won the trade is that they got a great player. Diggs has gained over 1,000 receiving yards in six straight seasons, averaging just under nine touchdowns per season during that stretch. He’s currently five yards shy of 10,000 career receiving yards and has rarely been hurt during his career. 

However, aside from the obvious, Diggs is a perfect fit for what the Houston offense needs. Coming off their promising 2023 campaign, the Texans are still young offensively. Despite his brilliant rookie season, C.J. Stroud can still benefit from having a veteran wide receiver at his disposal, especially one who’s proven to be as consistent and reliable as Diggs.

Josh Allen was entering his third season in the NFL when the Bills acquired Diggs, so this should be a familiar situation for him, enabling Diggs to help Stroud take another step forward.

On top of the intangibles he brings to the table, the look of Houston’s offense has changed with Diggs in the picture. Rather than Nico Collins being the no. 1 receiver coming off a breakout season, Diggs will take that role, freeing up Collins to face each team’s second-best cornerback. Meanwhile, the Texans still have Tank Dell in the slot with the likes of Robert Woods and John Metchie in the picture as depth. 

The Texans are also in excellent shape at running back with Joe Mixon and Dameon Pierce with Dalton Schultz giving Houston a proven tight end. Having Diggs figures to make all of those players because of the attention he warrants from opposing defenses.

In a way, Diggs adds legitimacy to a team that hopes to compete for the AFC crown next season. He represents a missing piece of the puzzle that makes that goal more realistic as long as Stroud can replicate his performance from last season.

Why the Bills Lost

By trading away Diggs, the Bills’ offseason plans were revealed to the rest of the league – just in case there was any doubt left. Due to their salary cap situation, the Bills have already parted ways with several key players on both sides of the ball. Buffalo will have to lean heavily on Allen and the team’s offensive playmakers in 2024, even more than the Bills have in recent years.

Without Diggs, that set of playmakers has been significantly weakened. Curtis Samuel is currently projected as Buffalo’s top wide receiver. That’s not going to inspire a lot of confidence, especially with questions about other parts of the roster. Any hope of being able to ride Allen to a Super Bowl in 2024 has been greatly diminished with this trade.

In fairness, with or without Diggs, the Bills were going to have a long road to the Super Bowl this season. If trading Diggs can help them get under the cap for the 2025 season and add an early-round draft pick to gear up for a serious run two years from now, this trade may not look so bad. But in the immediate future, the Bills are big losers and the Texans are big winners of this trade.

Before Sunday’s AFC Championship Game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens, three of the biggest stars on the field got into a brief conflict.

Ravens kicker Justin Tucker moved his practice tee, football and helmet to warm up on the Chiefs’ side of the field — right where Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes was doing his own warmup routine. Mahomes repeatedly moved Tucker’s tee and holder after the longtime Ravens kicker would set it up to practice kicks. 

Star Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce eventually walked over and tossed Tucker’s helmet and practice football off to the side.

Whatever mind games may have been afoot appeared to work out in the Chiefs’ favor, as Mahomes and Kelce provided just enough offense to back up a stellar performance from Kansas City’s defense in a 17-10 Chiefs win. 

After the Ravens’ season-ending loss Tucker said he thought the pregame interaction was not a big deal. According to Tucker, it’s commonplace for kickers across the NFL to practice on the opposite side of the field from their team’s designated warmup area.

“I saw Patrick there trying to warm up and get some dropbacks and he asked me, while I was on the ground stretching, if I could move my helmet. I happily got up and I moved my helmet out of the way — at least I thought it was enough out of the way,” Tucker said. “And then Travis comes over and he just kicks my stuff and he throws my helmet.

“I thought it was all just some gamesmanship, you know, all in good fun, but they seemed to be taking it a little bit more seriously. I’m totally willing to let it all go, but I just wanted to explain that that’s just what I have done for 12 years and it’s not like I’m out there trying to be problematic.”

Former NFL offensive lineman and current FOX Sports Radio host Rich Ohrnberger said that while Tucker was correct in saying kickers doing so is commonplace, it serves no purpose aside from gamesmanship and Mahomes and Kelce were justified in their actions.

Tucker is a highly respected veteran and considered one of the greatest kickers in NFL history. Of course, Mahomes and Kelce may be two of the most well-known figures in the entire league both on and off the field, especially since the duo has helped the Chiefs to four Super Bowl appearances (and, thus far, two wins) over the past five seasons.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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A new directive to crack down on football managers overstepping their boundaries has been installed for the 2023/24 season. Football managers will now be under closer scrutiny and are more likely to be punished with a yellow card for approaching officials or demanding that opposing players get a booking.

The Premier League is a high-pressure world for managers to operate in as job security is low. That has led to some big managerial meltdowns. TV cameras are watching everything, millions of punters attracted by generous football bonuses UK betting companies offer are lapping up outbursts, so these are moments when the red mist descends and the whole world gets to see.

Here we showcase the top five most infamous managerial meltdowns from the Premier League.

Conte vs Tuchel

There was a squaring up between then-Chelsea manager Tomas Tuchel and former Blues boss Antonio Conte in 2022. After a 2-2 draw in the EPL, the two managers crossed paths for a handshake, but Tuchel didn’t let go of Conte’s hand and sparked the flashpoint. It was all over the fact Tuchel had felt disrespected because Conte had not looked at him. Players and staff piled in and both bosses admitted improper conduct.

Benitez Rants at Ferguson

Former Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez launched into a memorable press conference in 2009, citing plenty of ‘facts’. Benitez’s Liverpool had been duelling with Manchester United in the Premier League title race, which the Reds ultimately lost. But Benitez had been niggled by complaints from Ferguson about the fixture list.

The Spaniard retaliated and kept referring to how refereeing decisions would always go Manchester United’s way and pointed fingers at Ferguson’s behaviour towards referees. It was a juicy five-minute rant.

Klopp Loses it

The Liverpool manager has had his fair share of rants. But the biggest was during his side’s 1-0 FA Cup victory over Manchester City in 2022. The Reds boss lost his cool,

chased a referee’s assistant up the sideline and then back again while screaming in the face of the unfortunate official. It echoes when in charge of Borussia Dortmund, Klopp screamed in the face of an official for which he received a red card.

Keegan “Loves it”

Former Newcastle boss Kevin Keegan was interviewed in the closing stages of the 1996 season with the title still on the line. Keegan’s Magpies were fighting with Manchester United

for the honours. United boss Ferguson had been doing his mind-game things in the build-up. So following a league win that kept the Magpies in touch for the title, Keegan lost his cool and in a passionate outburst told the TV crew “I will love it” if he beat Sir Alex Ferguson to the title.

Conte Rages Against Players

During his time as Tottenham manager, Antonio Conte launched into one of the most bizarre press conferences ever. The Italian laid his feelings bare as he attacked his Spurs players for being selfish after losing a 3-1 lead in a draw against Southampton.

Conte also attacked the club for not being in a position to play for anything important and not wanting to play under pressure, and calling out his employers for not having won anything in the 20 years under owner Daniel Levy.

Sir Alex Ferguson

This is more of an honourable mention of the king of Premier League football managers, Sir Alex Ferguson. The legendary Manchester United boss wouldn’t shy away from letting people know what he felt.

There’s no single event that gets him on this list as he had so many, like making goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak cry after suffering a 4-0 loss against West Ham in the League Cup.

There was the flying boot that cut David Beckham’s eye; the calling of referee Alan Wiley ‘unfit’ to referee a Premier League game; a five-match ban he received for a comment made

about referee Martin Atkinson and the hairdryer treatment he gave to Louis Saha after a Championship fixture to name but a few.