Live Blog
Masters 2024 live updates: Scheffler proves unbeatable, cruises to second green jacket with brilliant final-round 68
Happy Masters Sunday. That was fun. The Golf Digest team was live from Augusta National, bringing you minute-by-minute updates from the final round at Augusta National. Tiger Woods was off early and shot a five-over 77 alongside the low amateur Neal Shipley, who shot 73 and will be in Butler Cabin later this evening. Scottie Scheffler then took a close contest and stomped the competition with a final-round 68, winning his second green jacket by four shots.
(Scroll down for the latest updates from our crew at Augusta National.)
Scheffler brought a one-shot lead over Collin Morikawa into Sunday and Morikawa was looking for a third major at age 27. But this day belonged to Scheffler, much like it has the whole PGA Tour seasons so far.
Ludvig Aberg burst onto the major championship scene too, finishing in second place in his first major championship appearance. A year ago, he was in college at Texas Tech. Here is a look at everything that happened during the final round at the 88th Masters.
Masters 2024: Live updates from Day 4 at Augusta National:
7:40 p.m.: Another jacket.
7:10 p.m.: The final leaderboard: Scheffler (-11), Aberg (-7), Fleetwood, Homa, Morikawa (-4), Cam Smith, DeChambeau (-2), Schauffele (-1), Zalatoris, Hatton, Cam Young (E).
7:04 p.m.: Game. Over. Scottie Scheffler makes par on the last hole to shoot a final-round 68, good for an 11-under-par total and a four-shot victory over Ludvig Aberg. It is his second green jacket in the last three playings of the Masters. He put the green jacket on Jon Rahm last year, this year Rahm will put the jacket back on Scheffler.
6:57 p.m.: And Max Homa shoots 73-73 on the weekend to finish at four-under-par total. He tied for third place palce with Collin Morikawa and Tommy Fleetwood, who shot 69.
6:54 p.m.: Bravo Ludvig Aberg. Bravo. In his first major championship, he shoots a final-round 69 to finish in solo second place. The future is bright for the 24-year-old Swede.
6:48 p.m.: Enjoy the walk Scottie. He pars the 17th hole and stands on the 18th tee box with a four-shot lead over Ludvig Aberg. Crazy how quickly this thing got out of control. Scheffler is four under on the round, 11 under for the tournament.
6:39 p.m.: And Jim Nantz puts a bow on Verne Lundquist's career at Augusta National, one that spanned 40 magnificent years. "Thanks for the memories." An emotional Lundquist thanks Nantz as they go to break.
6:37 p.m.: Uncle Verne throws it to Ian Baker-Finch at the 17th hole and IBF says, "Thank you, Verne. For everything."
6:34 p.m.: Scottie Scheffler sends Verne Lundquist out with a birdie on the par-3 16th hole, this one from nine feet. He takes a four-shot lead into the last two holes. This beauty is just about over.
6:26 p.m.: The European Ryder Cupper from last year has his work cut out for him. See below...
6:22 p.m.: So the ball wasn't as bad as it first appeared, Scheffler splashed out and has about 25-30 feet here for birdie on the 15th hole. Carry on ...
6:18 p.m.: The last shot that really could give Scheffler trouble, gave him trouble. His second into the par-5 15th was well right and appears like it's ended in a fried egg in the bunker. Envisioning a splash out here, two-putt for par and get out of dodge. Reminder, he leads Aberg by three shots.
6:13 p.m.: The only drama remaining is to wait and listen to what Verne Lundquist has to say as he calls the 16th hole for the final time here in a few minutes.
6:08 p.m.: Scheffler just birdied the 14th hole to move back to a three-shot lead. It's getting late, early. Or something like that.
6:05 p.m.: The Super Bowl MVP is watching the golf ...
5:59 p.m.: Aberg, at this point, is the only challenger for Scheffler. He's birdied the 13th and 14th holes. Scheffler just birdied the 13th, but his lead is two shots right now. Whatever happens on the par-5 15th is going to be a big, big deal. Huge.
5:56 p.m.: So long Amen Corner, thanks for the memories. See you next year.
5:42 p.m.: Suddenly, it's extremely quiet on the golf course. No one is making a charge, we just have players backing up because of mistakes. Usually there's a run in here somewhere, but crickets.
5:33 p.m.: Scheffler finds the green at the 12th. Prompting this below ...
5:29 p.m.: So. Much. Carnage. Homa makes double-bogey 5 at the 12th hole. Scheffler now holds a three-shot lead standing on the 12th tee box. If he finds land here, anywhere, he'd have to be happy. Granted, it's not over yet. With eagle opportunities at 13 and 15 it still can get interesting, but Scheffler doesn't appear to be backing down.
5:26 p.m.: So ... Morikawa just doubled the 11th hole, his second double bogey in the last three holes. However, Scheffler made bogey on the same hole and for the moment only holds a one-shot lead over Homa. But again, Homa is in some massive trouble ahead on the 12th hole so the lead for Scheffler is about to grow before he even hits another shot.
5:18 p.m.: There is so much going on right now that it's hard to keep up. Aberg dunked it into the water on 11 and made double bogey. In the group behind him, Morikawa promptly hit his approach into the water. Moments later, Homa hit his tee shot on the par-3 12th over the back of the green and it appears to be in a bush. We may be mere moments from Scheffler holding as much as a four-shot lead.
5:08 p.m.: Aberg finds the water on his second shot into the brutal par-4 11th hole and it prompts a tweet from a man who you may recognize who also attended Texas Tech.
5:02 p.m.: Scheffler is not messing around. He just made biride on the 10th, his third straight, to open a two-shot lead over Aberg and Homa.
4:45 p.m.: Just after Åberg’s heroics at the ninth, Scheffler nearly holes it from the fairway to regain the solo lead. He took his approach well beyond the front hole location before using the slope to filter it back down. For a long time, it looked like it might drop, but nonetheless, the World No. 1 heads to the second nine with the lead.
Meanwhile, Morikawa found the bunker with his second and left it in the sand with his third. After blasting it out and two-putting, he makes a double-bogey six to tumble back. Morikawa started No. 9 tied with Scheffler and now he heads to the 10th hole THREE back.
4:38 p.m.: Count it for Åberg on the ninth, as he rolls in a long birdie putt from above the hole. He shoots a smooth bogey-free three-under 33 on the first nine and heads to the final nine holes of his first major (!) with a share of the lead.
4:33 p.m.: Scheffler and Morikawa trade birdies at the par-5 eighth, and they share the lead at seven under. The CBS broadcast reminds us that 28 of the last 30 Masters champions have come from the final pairing. The final pairing today? Scheffler and Morikawa.
4:17 p.m.: Scheffler makes bogey at the seventh and no longer holds sole possession of the lead as he is tied with Morikawa and Åberg at six under. Max Homa is one back at five under as he plays the scoreable par-5 eighth. Scheffler has hit only three of the first seven greens in regulation. Even with his excellent short game, he’ll need to hit a few more greens the rest of the way to stay atop.
4:03 p.m.: Åberg! The Swede knocks it tight at the seventh and converts the birdie to move to six under, just one back of Scheffler. It’s early on Sunday, but he has hardly missed a shot through seven holes. If he were to win, he would be just the third player since 1934 to win a major in his first career major start. The other two? Ben Curtis at the 2003 Open and Keegan Bradley at the 2011 PGA.
3:45 p.m.: Augusta National is getting quite crispy. The traditionally deep green hues on the greens are quickly fading as the course continues to firm up after Thursday’s storm. After landing the ball hole high at the fifth, Morikawa saw his ball bound to the back of the green. As the greens get firmer, look for the higher-ball hitters to have an advantage. Scheffler launches it straight up, as does the Swede Åberg, but Morikawa and Homa don’t exactly hit it low. Bottom line? Distance control on approaches may determine who will put on the Green Jacket.
3:27 p.m.: Scheffler drives it into the greenside bunker on No. 3 and gets up-and-down for his first birdie of the day. (Side note: here is why the statistics defend going for the green on the tricky third.) He opens up a two-shot lead and sits at eight under, but only three players are within four shots of the lead. That’s bad news for the chasers (DeChambeau, Schauffele, Fleetwood), who will need to make a big move. What will the winning score be? The model from Data Golf currently gives a 40-percent chance the winning number is either nine or 10 under, while there is a 16 percent chance it is 11 under.
3:14 p.m.: Scheffler starts the final round with two pars to stay one ahead of Morikawa and Homa. Scottie hit a couple of uncharacteristic iron shots on the first two holes—well short on one and bounded over the green at two. Often at the top of every field he plays in in ball-striking statistics, Scheffler hasn't been nearly as impressive tee-to-green this week—making his one-shot lead all the more impressive.
2:58 p.m.: How is this Åberg's first Masters? Let alone major ... The prodigy will make an early move up the leaderboard with a birdie on the par-5 second. Soon after, Homa will follow that up with a birdie of his own, also on No. 2. That's the first birdie in 34 holes for Homa, and he's now just one stroke back from Scheffler. What a stat and what a week he's having.
2:38 p.m.: Max Homa will miss a strong chance for birdie on the first hole. He'll par and stay two strokes behind the leader, and one behind Morikawa. Jumping over to DeChambeau. Bryson will hit it way too far on No. 2 after a bogey to start his day off. He'll have plenty of green to work with, but not the start to Sunday he was hoping for. Schauffele will follow up Bryson with a shot right on the green and will get a solid roll as well.
2:25 p.m.: That'll work. After a birdie on the first hole, Cam Smith holes out from the bunker on No. 2 for eagle and is just four back now. The LIV golfer already has a major under his belt with the 2022 Open and will be scary to see climbing up the board for anyone in contention. Smith has four top-10 finishes at Augusta National since 2018, so it certainly seems like he clicks with the course.
2:19 p.m.: Right behind Hojgaard are Bryson and Xander, four and five strokes respectively behind leader Scheffler. We're still waiting on Åberg, Homa, Morikawa and Scheffler. And away we go.
After his brutal first shot, Højgaard will finish up the opening hole with a double bogey. He'll drop to even for the major. 17 holes left to go, of course. So plenty of time to climb back up the leaderboard.
2:13 p.m.: Well, Nicolai Hojgaard just hit his first shot of the day and he'll be wanting that one back. The 23-year-old immediately snap hooked it to the left and will be searching for that one. Not gonna be on the fairway for sure. Hojgaard started his day at two under and tied for sixth place. It would be borderline miraculous if he pars this one.
2:01 p.m.: Things are happening now. We've moved over from ESPN to CBS (or a free one-week Paramount Plus subscription for many of us) and the real contenders are beginning to tee off. Tommy Fleetwood just opened with a birdie, and many others in the hunt will look for similar starts to their final day. The Masters announcers just stated that 27-straight winners were within five strokes to start Sunday, so it's likely one of these top-10 competitors who will win a green jacket. Well, no matter who takes it, we'll be here, blogging and posting. As we do.
1:50 p.m.: Rory McIlroy will par his fourth hole in a row after a bogey to start the day. He's now at four over for the Masters, level with Rahm and Fowler. This'll be another missed opportunity to acomplish a golf grand slam for the Northern Irishman. He had a second-place finish just two years ago, and at least he's playing on Sunday this go-around after missing the cut last year.
1:30 a.m.: Tiger makes his way up to the 18th green to a huge ovation from the crowd. Not the best weekend for Tiger, but they don't care. He made the cut, and we're just happy to see him playing. His second-to-last shot of the day was a chip shot which burned the edge. His tap-in for par cemented his Sunday 77.
1:15 a.m.: We're on a bit of a streak of LIV players holing out for birdie from the fairway. Bryson DeChambeau on 18 late Saturday, and now Jon Rahm after his drive found a bit of trouble on the narrow par-4 seventh. He moves to two-under for the day, three-over for the tournament.
12:55 a.m.: Tiger seems to have found his footing after that disasterous bogey-par-triple-bogey stretch on holes 3-6. He's made eight straight pars since then. That streak came to an end on the par-5 15th hole, where he layed up and hit his wedge approach into the short side, then left his nine-footer for par short.
12:45 a.m.: It's time for Rory McIlroy to get his final round underway. McIlroy sends his first drive of the day 324 yards right down the middle. His palying partner Joaquin Niemann sends his ball to the right of the fairway.
12:28 a.m.: I don't think we've talked about the final round hole locations, have we? No, we haven't. Here are the final round hole locations. Remember: never go for that pin on the 12th hole.
12:12 a.m.: Rory McIlroy is on the range. I say this with love, but it would be very on brand for Rory to get hot and shoot a low score today and jump into the low-end of the top five.
11:55 a.m.: It breaks my brain how much speed 48 year-old Tiger still has in the tank. After a long week on a hilly golf course, four of his first nine drives have finished have finished between 320 yards and 360 yards.
11:40 a.m.: Tiger almost exclusively hits left-to-right fades these days. It's the product of his golf swing becoming more arm-centric because of the injuries hindering his mobility in his lower body. He doesn't do it often, but when he does want to turn it over, he still has that shot. As he showed on the 10th hole, when he hit this nasty 35-yard draw around the corner.
11:32 a.m.: Respect to Neil Shipley. The de-facto silver medalist is the only amateur to make the cut, making the turn in one-under. It's not easy playing with Tiger Woods, a guy who goes through obviously severe bouts of intense pain. Who isn't playing well on this occasion (he shot four-over 40), always has the looming threat of withdrawing and brings with him huge crowds. But he's blocking out those distractions. He looks like a player.
11:10 a.m.: Tiger Woods hasn't been enjoying the best start to his final round, to say the least. After what looked to be a productive range session with his son Charlie following his 10-over 82 on Saturday, Woods made a triple bogey seven on his fifth hole. One out of bounds, a provisional onto the sloping front-right portion of the green following a provisional, then three putts. He's currently four over through seven.
11:10 a.m.: Tiger Woods hasn't been enjoying the best start to his final round, to say the least. After what looked to be a productive range session with his son Charlie following his 10-over 82 on Saturday, Woods made a triple bogey seven on his fifth hole. One out of bounds, a provisional onto the sloping front-right portion of the green following a provisional, then three putts. He's currently four over through seven.
9:45 a.m.: Tiger Woods is off in the final round—playing alongside low amateur Neal Shipley. What an absolute thrill for the Ohio State Buckeye. Shipley talked earlier in the week how Jack Nicklaus has given him advice on his journey at Augusta National—well, now Shipley gets a glimpse at greatness with another GOAT all day on Sunday.
Here are all the pin positions for the final round at the Masters:
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