AUGUSTA, Ga. — Rarely in sports do the two best teams or players in a given season meet for the game’s biggest prize. Think of all the near-titanic clashes that haven’t happened over the years. Upsets take place, teams blow leads and fans are left hypothesizing what could have been.
The 2022 Masters is not one of those times. By any metric and from any angle, Scottie Scheffler and Cameron Smith have been the world’s two best golfers in 2022, and on Sunday afternoon at Augusta National, they’ll meet on the first tee with nobody else even close to them as they square off for a green jacket.
Scheffler leads the way at 9 under after a 1-under 71 on Saturday that wobbled a bit late as he shot 38 on the second nine. Smith is three back at 6 under after his second 68 of the week (and Saturday’s the round of the day). The pair emerged from a cold, windy, often-lifeless third round in which beanies were more prominent than the booming roars that normally trundle down the hills and hollows of Augusta National on Saturday afternoon.
With just seven players still under par, Scheffler and Smith — the two hottest golfers alive — have set the stage for what could go down as one of the great tussles in Masters final round history.
This week has been a microcosm of their years. There have been 13 non-opposite field PGA Tour events played this season, and Scheffler and Smith have won five of them, including four of the last five in which at least one was in the field.
Since Jan. 1, they rank No. 1 and No. 2 in the Official World Golf Rankings points earned, total strokes gained (per Data Golf) and PGA Tour victories.
This week, they rank No. 1 and No. 2 in strokes gained from tee to green, birdies made through 54 holes and, oh yeah, on the leaderboard.
Scheffler leads Smith by three and Sungjae Im by five. Nobody else is within six of Scheffler or three of Smith. At the last 31 Masters, 26 champions have come from the final pairing, and while a miracle round from Im — or an otherwordly from the golfers at 2 under or 1 under — is certainly possible, at this point it would take something inconceivable to leapfrog both of them.
Going into Saturday’s third round, I was curious about who would rise up to challenge Scheffler in the toughest conditions of the week (technically, the second round scoring average was higher than the third, but the third round wasn’t bloated by scores from amateurs and past champions). Smith turned out to be that guy. He went out in 34 and came home in the same on Saturday. That symmetry belies his yo-yo rounds. On Thursday, he made eight birdies and two doubles for a cool 68. In the final round of The Players Championship in March, an event he won, Smith made 10 birdies and just four pars.
If you’re looking for a Jordan Spieth Sunday Roller Coaster facsimile to hop aboard, Smith is your guy.
“[Winning The Players] just means I can get it done I guess when I’m up against the best guys in the world,” said Smith on Saturday. “It’s a good feeling to have. It’s earned. It’s not given to you. So, I’m going to have to go out there tomorrow and play really good golf again, probably similar to today. Hopefully, everything just falls into place. I can’t control what anyone else is going to do tomorrow. So, yeah, just go out there and really focus on myself.”
This Sunday battle is reminiscent of 2018 when Patrick Reed led Rory McIlroy by three going into the final round with nobody else in sight. McIlroy pulled to within one on the second hole, but Reed vaporized him the rest of the way. Smith needs to apply the pressure to Scheffler that McIlroy couldn’t apply to Reed over the first nine and then let things ride on the second nine.
After he won the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play at the end of March, a choked-up Scheffler talked about how much he loves competing. It’s instructive because his swing and his game doesn’t have “No. 1 player in the world” written all over it like the games of Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy or Adam Scott. On Saturday night, he reiterated how much he craves the moment.
“Should be a great fight tomorrow,” said Scheffler. “Obviously, Cam is a tremendous player, and he’s got a fantastic short game, and he’s coming off a huge win at The Players. Both of us are in good form, so I’m definitely looking forward to the challenge of playing with him tomorrow. … Playing in the final group is always so much fun, so I’m looking forward to it.”
What we get on Sunday at the Masters is so rare, especially in golf. Because there are so many permutations at events with so many golfers in the field, it almost never shakes out so that the two best are also the last two on the range on Sunday afternoon.
It gets even better stylistically. The clean-cut Texas boy who looks like he’s approaching middle age against the straggly Australian kid who has to grow chin hair to look old enough to buy drinks.
Scheffler gets it done off the tee. Smith has the best short game in the world. Both are flush from the fairway. It’s not a fair fight because Scheffler took the first three rounds, and Smith needs a healthy comeback on Sunday to take the belt. It’s almost better that way, though, with Scheffler trying to get to the house and Smith trying to keep him out on the course until he can run him down.
Golf in 2022 has been building toward this. The two defining characters of the year clashing for the most coveted piece of fabric in all of sports. They have delivered so many great moments thus far, and at least one of them has won a tournament in each of the first three months. That will almost surely extend to four on Sunday, though we don’t yet know who will do it.
What we do know, though, based on the evidence we have this year, is that no matter who wins or how it happens or the final score, Scottie Scheffler and Cam Smith will do what they’ve done at every turn so far this season. When they tee it up late in the Georgia afternoon as the weather tries to turn warm again, they’ll go out and give us one more show.
