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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.