The Masters 2024: Five talking points after Augusta hosts start of Major season

The 88th Masters Tournament provided several intriguing storylines as Augusta National played host to a thrilling start to golf’s Major season in 2024.

Scottie Scheffler lived up to his pre-tournament billing as favourite to claim a four-shot victory and become a two-time winner of the Green Jacket.

On a final day which at one point saw four players tied for the lead, the world Number One pulled away to claim his third title in his last four starts worldwide.

But his triumph was just one of a handful of storylines during an exciting tournament in Georgia.

From Ludvig Åberg’s impressive Major Championship debut performance to Tommy Fleetwood’s best Masters finish, here are five major talking points to come from another memorable Augusta spectacle.

Scheffler stamps authority at Augusta

With a first, first and second in his last three starts on the PGA TOUR coming into the Masters, for many it was hard to look beyond Scheffler – and so proved the case. 

Now a two-time Green Jacket holder, the American is proving to be a class above the rest. While he was by no means the best player across several of the key statistical barometers, he did produce at times when it counted most.

From chip-ins, getting up and down with almost unfailing regularity to a mental resolve when things threatened to go wrong, the 27-year-old mastered the challenges he faced.

While his four-stroke winning margin suggested it was a formality, there was a stage when it appeared anything but. 

When his Ryder Cup teammate Max Homa – playing in the group ahead – birdied the eighth, there was a four-way tie for the lead with Åberg and Collin Morikawa also at six under. But in a short space of time, things quickly changed.

In a three-hole stretch from the eighth, Scheffler moved up the gears to make three consecutive birdies.

At the same time, Morikawa and then Åberg faltered, with double bogeys at the ninth and the tenth respectively. Homa soon followed with one of his own at the par-three 12th.

Despite a valiant effort from Åberg to work his way back into contention with back-to-back birdies at the 13th and 14th, Scheffler continued to push on and a birdie at the par-three 16th to move four clear of the Swede all but sealed victory. 

The form Scheffler is showing resembles the incredible season he enjoyed in 2022, the year he first became the top-ranked golfer. 

That year, he also went on to finish second on three occasions - including at the U.S Open - but for the time being his attention appears set to switch to the impending birth of his first child.

“I’m coming home,” Scheffler said - aiming the words at his wife, Meredith, after winning his third event of 2024.

“I’ll be home as quick as I can. It’s a very special time for both of us. I can’t put into words what it means to win this tournament. I really can’t put into words what it’s going to be like to become a father for the first time.”

Åberg leads European rookies as his star continues to rise

It is testament to the mark the young Swede has made in such a short timeframe that Åberg was widely being tipped as a strong contender at the Masters.

After all, this wasn’t just his Masters debut. It was also his Major Championship bow.

Typically, a rookie’s expectations are often managed but not with Åberg - he was embracing the pre-tournament focus on his hopes.

Not since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979 as a rookie won the Masters. Only two others – Horton Smith and Gene Sarazen – won at the first attempt.

This time last year Åberg wasn’t even a professional. Yet, in less than 12 months he has gone on to win on both sides of the Atlantic and play an influential role in Team Europe regaining the Ryder Cup.

Prior to that appearance in Rome last September, Luke Donald described Åberg as a “generational talent”. Amid his undoubted talent, it is perhaps his composure that continues to stand out the most.

In the second round on Friday, a day in which conditions were at their toughest with swirling winds and greens starting to firm up, Åberg was the only player in the field to break 70.

Here is someone who continues to take everything in his stride. After the disappointment of a double bogey at the 11th - the toughest hole all week - in Sunday’s final round, he bounced back with a pair of birdies shortly afterwards to ensure solo second at the end of a week he will forever remember.

"Just to be in this situation and feel the nerves and feel the pressure walking down the last couple of holes is what you dream of," he said.

"This is what I have been wanting to do for such a long time and it's quite surreal to actually have the opportunity to experience it. But I'm so proud of me, myself and all of the people on my team and my family and everyone involved."

Matthieu Pavon carded a level-par 72 in the final round to finish at two over in a tie for 12th ensuring his return to Augusta next year, with Nicolai Højgaard, who momentarily held solo possession of the lead during the third round, a shot further back.

Ryo Hisatsune, the fourth and final DP World Tour member making their Masters debut, missed the cut in what was also his first Major start, like Åberg.

Fleetwood records best Masters finish - his Major triumph is surely coming

After his best performance on record at Augusta National, the reflections were deservedly positive from the English fan favourite Fleetwood. 

In his eighth appearance, the 33-year-old finished in a tie for third alongside American pair Homa and Morikawa.

A flawless 69 in the final round helped him to his best Major result since he was solo second behind Shane Lowry at The Open in 2019. 

“I really enjoyed being out there," said Fleetwood, whose previous best finish was a tie for 14th in 2022 - when Scheffler won his first Green Jacket.

"It’s Masters Sunday and I had a bogey-free round so there’s not much to complain about.”

Having finished in the top 10 for greens in regulation and putting stats, the game is in great order for the rest of the season - one in which he has already won at the Dubai Invitational in January.

With long-time caddie and friend Ian Finnis missing through illness, Fleetwood had Gray Moore on the bag, and he enjoyed his time with the former Augusta National caddie master.

"I always enjoy seeing him and spending time with him at Augusta every time the Masters comes around but actually being out with him was a real treat,” he said.

“I just hope he's had as good a time with me as I have with him this week.”

Fans of the game are sure to continue rooting for him in his pursuit of a Major crown.

His record at golf’s biggest events was already impressive but he has now finished in the top five at all four, and with three to come over the space of the next three months, his hopes will only have been strengthened that he can get a win.

Woods continues to make Masters records

Tiger Woods means a lot to the Masters and the Masters means a lot to Tiger Woods.

Since his debut as an amateur in 1995, the American great has made 26 appearances and won the Green Jacket on five occasions, most recently defying the odds to do so in 2019 after a series of injury problems.

A serious car accident since then left him wondering if he would ever play again, but he continues to do so despite the pain and breaking more records in the process.

Even having only played once so far this season at the Genesis Invitational – an event he withdrew from through illness – he was still talking up hopes of winning a 16th Major.

And through 36 holes, that remained a possibility.

But first things first, in making the cut, he had made it a record-breaking 24 consecutive cuts made at Augusta.

After rain and storms delayed the start of play on Thursday, Woods played 23 holes on Friday – a demand for even the best but especially so for a player with the physical limitations he is facing.

"I've always loved playing here,” he said of adding to his record down Magnolia Lane.

“I've been able to play here since I was 19 years old. It's one of the honours I don't take lightly, being able to compete.

"The years I have missed, I wish I was able to play because there's such an aura and mystique about playing this golf course. Unless you have played and competed here, you probably don't really appreciate."

While the weekend didn’t play out as he would have hoped, recording scores of 82 and 77, the 48-year-old continues to receive adoration from the Augusta patrons unlike any other current player.

It remains to be seen how many more occasions we do get to see Woods at the Masters, but his intention in the very near future is to target appearing at the remaining three Majors of the year.

Willett among past Masters champions to impress

One of the stories of the tournament was the return to competitive action of 2016 Masters champion Danny Willett.

The Englishman had not teed it up since undergoing extensive shoulder surgery following the BMW PGA Championship last September.

Doctors had told him he would be sidelined for 12-18 months but defied their predictions to take up his place in the field well ahead of schedule.

To do so was a miracle in itself, but to then go and card a four-under-par 68 in his first round back was equally impressive.

Add to that, his final decision to play in the first men’s Major of the year was only taken following no ill effects from a full day’s practice on Sunday in the lead up.

He admitted he surprised himself with his performance, but said it was reward for all the hard work he had put in during his rehabilitation process.

"It's nice to come and prove that if you've done the work and you do the right things that you can hit the shots still when you need to,” said the eight-time DP World Tour winner after his first competitive round in 207 days.

He was firmly in the mix at four under on the 18th tee in the second round, before he suffered an unfortunate triple bogey finish to his day.

While he struggled over the weekend with rounds of 76 and 78, he is sure to take encouragement from what he was able to produce under the circumstances.

For now, though, the plan is to take the next seven weeks off before his next event.

But that wasn't the only notable performance by a former champion worth highlighting.

José María Olazábal, champion at Augusta in 1994 and 1999, celebrated the 30th anniversary of his first Green Jacket by making the cut as the 58-year-old went on to finish in a tie for 45th on his 35th appearance.

"I enjoyed every bit of it. It was a wonderful present to be able to play the weekend. I think it's the second time in ten years or whatever,” he said.

"I wasn't expecting that, to be honest, tackling the week. I wasn't expecting to play good golf like I did this week.”