He is 25 years old. He made $ 10 million this season. Inside the cabin he wore this jacket for the first time – he took it off to repeat the ceremony in front of a crowd waiting for him around the 18th green – and after an interview he finished, he went back out. He was still looking a little dizzy and enjoyed a few seconds of silence until he saw the audience, who started cheering and applauding. “I really do not know what to say,” he said. 2 About He broke down and cried this morning – “like a baby”, in his own words – feeling overwhelmed by the moment: A round of golf to win the Masters and the tornado that can take a lifetime after that. He has seen it hit people he knows, like Jordan Spith. He turned to his wife crying. “I do not think I am ready for that,” he told her. She made him a rich breakfast and tried to calm him down. She said she loved him whether he won or lost 10. They talked about their common faith. He arrived at the lesson and began to prepare. “My God, it was a long breakfast,” he said. “It was a lot. My stomach hurt for two days in a row.” Back in Texas, at the Royal Oaks Country Club, members and staff were also trained. Scottie Scheffler was always prepared for the moment. Then it happened. Andrew Redington / Getty Images “It’s calm before the storm,” chief practitioner Dean Larsson told me Sunday morning. Scheffler started playing there as a child after his parents took out a loan to join, all with the aim of following club members like Justin Leonard on the PGA Tour. “What’s really special,” said Royal Oaks president Todd Moen.[is] “Because Scotty grew up here, everyone has known him.” His dream was to become a professional. “I wore pants when I was a kid at Royal Oaks,” he said, “because I wanted to play golf on the PGA Tour.” As a boy he wore those polo shirts and khaki to school, dressed like a touring professional. His classmates laughed. “Fair,” he said Sunday night, laughing too. As a golf legend student in his state, he played at a college in Texas. On Saturday afternoon, Longhorns golf coach John Fields answered his phone at an airport, taking his current team to California for an event. He chose the tournament because it was designed by Alister MacKenzie, who also designed a small piece called Augusta National. Fields wanted to prepare his children for the bigger scenes. Scheffler won the same tournament when he was a student. Fields watched the Masters on his phone as he waited at his gate. He is almost a member of the Scheffler family at this point. Five years ago, Scheffler played in the US Open in Erin Hills. He walked down the street next to Brooks Koepka, with the coach and his father following behind. Scheffler’s father turned to Fields. “Do you think he will be out there one day?” asked. It’s funny now, but Scheffler’s dad really didn’t know. Fields did it. He had seen the real thing before – he was Spieth’s coach, for example – and explained to his friend that the young man in front of them would not only be touring but building a career on it. His huge achievement hit Scottie Scheffler on Sunday at Augusta National. AP Photo / Matt Slocum This prophecy has come true in the last 57 days. On Sunday in the Super Bowl, Scheffler won his first WM Phoenix Open tour. Back at the club, Moen bought a round of drinks for the 19th hole crowd and raised a glass to Scheffler and the club. Everyone was roaring. These were his people. Scheffler then went on to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. He raised the golf world rankings to No. 1. At Royal Oaks, among the victories, he still worked with the kids in the range, making chips and playing games, which often lasted up to an hour. Before leaving home to come to Georgia, he played a round with three members. Then pack up for the Masters. He could not believe it. When he received his first invitation by mail, he wept. For the past 57 days, he has been a young man living in a dreamy landscape. “I do not think anything has sunk at the moment,” he said. “My head is still turning a bit.” He reached Augusta just below the radar, even with all his success. All eyes were on Tiger Woods, who was returning to competitive golf just 14 months after the car wreck almost cost him his leg. Scheffler was not even a year old when Woods first won here. “His YouTube clips are such an inspiration to me,” Scheffler said. “I remember watching his highlights win ’97, as if he left with him, and never disbanded his rally.” Scheffler now wears Tiger golf shoes and shirts and uses his irons, although he will probably have his own line of all three soon. It surpassed the legend on Thursday. On Friday, as Tiger’s surgically repaired knee began to fail, Scheffler took the lead. He kept it on Saturday and after his big night and his full, tearful breakfast, he went out on Sunday afternoon to defend it. His toughest competition came from Rory McIlroy, who equaled a Masters record in the round of 64 with 64. He got 18 and his roar echoed all the way. Rory had the loudest roars of the afternoon. To tell the truth, the atmosphere on Sunday was silent. As Scheffler made his way home through the nine backs, there were open spaces in the ropes that are often five or six deep for these coronation paths. More than a few people hoped for some sort of collapse to give McIlroy a chance at a career grand slam. Scheffler did not fold. Back at the Royal Oaks, the 19th hole turned into just an upright room. When Scheffler reached No. 3, the biggest shot of his life, the club broke out. A man ran around the room giving fives. Hole hole, the room leaned in tense moments, with feet digging the red and yellow carpets. The guys drank from white styrofoam cups. When he turned 14 and sealed the victory, adult men hugged and rubbed each other’s heads like school children. They knew Scheffler as a kid, and now he was going to win the same tournament as Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. A chant broke out in the shooting room. “Fireballs! Cannonball! Cannonball!”
