AUGUSTA – You have to go low on the back nine on Sunday to win the Masters. Neither Max Homa nor Collin Morikawa did, so they stood aside and watched Scottie Scheffler get fitted with another green jacket.
It wasn’t like two of the PGA Tour’s up-and-comers threw up on their shoes, though. They both played steady, respectable final rounds, mostly staying out of trouble and cashing in on opportunities where they presented themselves. But it became quickly evident when the turn was made at the top of the hill from 9 to 10 that Scheffler was playing a different game altogether. Once again, the two-time Masters champion made mincemeat of the closing nine at Augusta.
When it was over, Homa and Morikawa stood seven shots in arrears after shooting 2-over and 1-over, respectively, on the home-9. Scheffler’s score of 33 coming in left them well back.
“His commitment, his mind,” Homa said of Scheffler’s steely play when the outcome us in the balance. “He is pretty amazing at letting things roll off his back and stepping up to very difficult golf shots and treating them like his own. He’s obviously a tremendous talent, but I think that is his superpower.”
Scheffler’s rock-solid game took care of the contenders one at a time. Morikawa’s bid, for all practical purposes, ended on the ninth hole. After matching Scheffler’s birdie on the eighth, his drive on 9 ended up right of the fairway in the pine straw. His complicated approach ran into the front-left bunker. But he left his third shot in the sand bunker. And when Scheffler followed his 358-yard drive with an 89-yard approach that zipped back from beyond the pin to six inches, it represented a three-shot swing.
Two holes later, Morikawa also would card a double bogey at No. 11.
“I got greedy,” said Morikawa, who has won a British Open and a PGA Championship. “When you’re playing really good, you don’t get greedy. I got greedy on 9; I got greedy on 11. I wasn’t pressing, I just was trying to hit it a little bit too close, and greed can get the best of us. I’m going to take a lot from this week.”
As for the 33-year-old Homa, he hung tough for the longest time. Playing just ahead of Scheffler and Morikawa, he found himself in a four-way tie for the lead at 6-under after Scheffler showed a little humanity and bogeyed No. 7. Morikawa and Ludvig Aberg were all minus-6 at the time, too.
Homa’s birdie at No. 8 preceded Scheffler. He birdied 10 as well, hitting a 324-yard drive and putting his 160-yard approach 4-feet above, where he jarred it.
But Homa’s flickering hopes were extinguished where many before have been gone out. He hit his tee shot to No. 12 just like everyone instructs players to on Sunday, right over the middle bunker. But his ball took a big hop and landed in the azaleas and other flora decorated the back side of that picturesque green. Homa had to take an unplayable lie, then committed the sin of leaving his chip shot short. Two shots later, the double-bogey 5 all but assured Homa wouldn’t be realizing any dreams this Sunday.
“I thought I handled myself great,” Homa said of his best shot at a major. “Didn’t make any putts, really didn’t feel like I blinked. Would have loved the ball on 12 not to go in the foot of ivy. But I hit a good shot, and I think I did that all weekend.”
Having the honor of seeing up close and personal the greatest active player in golf, Homa and Morikawa both paid proper homage.
“Scottie is an amazing golfer; it’s really impressive,” Homa said. “Obviously, I was going to need to play some spectacular golf today and did not. But I thought I played some really good golf. So, I’m proud of that. And it was a really fun weekend.”
“It’ impressive,” said Morikawa, who is a year younger and has played golf with Scheffler since they were juniors. “The distance he’s hitting it and how good he’s hitting his irons … what he’s doing with his irons is crazy impressive because he’s hitting every shot, moving both directions. It’s something that I admired and hopefully I can get my game back to that kind of spot.”
Already having proved he belongs among golf’s young elite, Morikawa has demonstrated he is well-made for Augusta as well. His tie for third was his third consecutive top 10 finish in five Masters starts. The only time he has finished outside the Top 18 was his first time in 2020, when he made the cut and tied for 44th.
Homa’s getting used to the big time as well. After missing the cut his first two tries, he’s gone 48th, 43rd and third in the last three.
Both players will be invited back based on this year’s performance alone. But they leave Augusta National’s grounds eager to try their hands at another major.
“It’s bittersweet, I guess, because I feel accomplished but I feel like it doesn’t really mean anything in the grand scheme of things,” Homa said. “I just feel like I learned; I feel like I took a big leap. The rhetoric on me -- and this is from myself, as well -- is I have not performed in these things. But I performed for all four days. I didn’t throw a 65 in there and sneak my way in. I had to sleep on this every single day, this feeling and kind of this monkey on my back.
“For me, I think it’ll change some things, and then in other ways it’ll change nothing at all.”
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