Will Scheffler dominate, can Rory win again & Tiger's Open promise - Masters talking points

Can Scottie Scheffler go on to dominate the world of golf? Does Rory McIlroy’s scintillating final round mean he’s ready to win another major? And can Tiger Woods really win a tournament again? These are the big questions emerging from the 86th Masters at Augusta.

Is Scottie too hottie the real deal?

Scottie Scheffler’s rise through the ranks has been spectacular, although not entirely unexpected as he’s been a consistent performer over recent years and made a fine Ryder Cup debut last autumn.

He was among the ‘players to watch’ this season and in major contention, but nobody could have foreseen what happened in a 57-day spell that saw him catapulted to the very pinnacle of the sport having previously never won on the PGA Tour.

His first win came in Phoenix on February 13 and the floodgates duly opened – three more wins, including the WGC Matchplay and the Masters, followed and by April 10 he was wearing a Green Jacket and held a healthy lead as the World No.1 golfer.

This concentration of domination is spectacular and something we’ve hardly even seen at this stage of the season, with his four wins in six starts almost unheard of in the super-competitive world of golf.

His first four wins have come in the shortest span in PGA Tour history, while only Tiger Woods has won four times in a season including a major and a WGC event – although he did it eight times!

And Scheffler has managed something even Tiger Woods hasn’t by pocketing four wins this early in the season, including the Masters. It is something last achieved by the great Arnold Palmer back in 1960.

Can this form last, can Scheffler dominate the world of golf?

Time will tell, but total domination such as that Tiger Woods regularly achieved seems a bit far-fetched these days, as the strength in depth in the game is greater and there’s not much between a lot of these star golfers.

In Scheffler’s favour, he has the all-round game having won different events on different courses – he can send it off the tee but has a crisp short game and can hole clutch putts.

He seems level-headed and calm under pressure – sleeping on a huge lead at the Masters is not usually an easy thing to do, but he handled the final round particular impressively and in a manner that suggested more majors to come.

And let’s not forget that he’s no flash in the pan. Having missed the cut in his first US Open, he’s finished no worse than 19th in the remaining seven majors – including four Top 10s and of course his Masters victory.

We won’t see Tiger dominance again, but with the top golfers so closely matched, we may see another hot streak and a few more major titles for Scheffler in a similar fashion to Jordan Spieth and Brooks Koepka - even Rory McIlroy to an extent.

Scottie Scheffler's rise to golf's summit has been thrilling

McIlroy destroyed the field in the 2011 US Open, won the USPGA the year after then in 2014 went back-to-back at the Open and USPGA to suggest he could dominate, but hasn’t won a major since.

Spieth was next in 2015 as he won the Masters and US Open, could’ve won the Open then finished second in the USPGA. He should’ve won the Masters in 2016 and then won the Open again in 2017 and has knocked on the door since but with no joy.

Koepka then became a major bully, winning four out of eight between 2017-19, but despite having some great chances and four Top 5s, he’s still without another major success.

So, what can we learn from this? Well, the theme is striking while the iron is hot, so expect Scheffler to go close or pocket another major or two of the next year or so.

He looks unbeatable at the moment, but recent history says that doesn’t last, so getting every available major you can out of it while you’re on top is the goal. As staying on top these days with so much quality around is proving a tough ask.

Scheffler’s two worst major results when making the cut before this year both came at Augusta, so with success at the other three, he should have live chances in them all for the rest of this season.

Scheffler’s major odds: USPGA 11 | US Open 14.5 | Open Championship 15

Rory needs to fix first round issues to resurrect major chances

Be honest, there was just a moment when Rory McIlroy holed out from the bunker on 18 that you thought “hang on...” but McIlroy’s sparkling 64, just one shot off the Augusta course record, came just a bit too late.

Frustration for Rory backers and more fuel for Rory critics, who point to many of his Top 10s or Top 5s in recent majors being via 'the back door', with final round bursts when out of contention.

This one was a little different, with it being his lowest major round since a 63 at the 2010 Open and having the 32-year-old positively beaming after the round, claiming it was “the happiest I’ve ever been on a golf course”.

There’s no doubt the pressure of completing the career grand slam at Augusta weighs heavy on McIlroy, and it seems the pressure at majors in general badly hampers his build-up, as his first-round record is poor and undoubtedly the source of his major drought.

McIlroy is 35 over par for his first rounds since winning the 2014 USPGA. Consistently starting slowly and having to chase is never how to want to play in the majors – if he can just get into contention from the start then one of these flying final rounds could result in a fifth title.

He’s won all three of the remaining majors so is capable in them all, and that sparkling round of 63 mentioned above did come at St Andrews, which is staging the 150th Open this year...

McIlroy major odds: USPGA 14.5 | US Open 15 | Open Championship 14

Tiger to take aim at the Open

And finally...Tiger Woods – again proving that he might, in fact, not be entirely all human with a miraculous display of guts and determination to get through four rounds of Augusta’s hugely rolling fairways.

Forget the score, getting to the first tee was a remarkable effort 14 months on from almost losing his leg after that car crash, and making the cut was a borderline miracle given the lack of competitive golf.

He looked sharp enough for the first two rounds before fatigue and pain understandably caught up with him, and we’ve now gone from asking if he’ll ever play again to being pretty sure he’ll win again – it's just a matter of where!

The 15-time major champion will be tempted to return to Southern Hills for the USPGA in May – 15 years after winning that same event at the same venue, but watching him hobbling off after 72 holes then that could come too soon.

Woods admitted he won’t be playing a full schedule ever again, so will target the majors and any possible warm-up events in between, depending on his stage of recovery – but we do know that barring any setbacks he’ll peg it up at the Open at St Andrews in July.

He may make a stop at the US Open in June, but we’ll have to wait for that confirmation. That is not the case with St Andrews as Woods simply loves the place. “It's something that's near and dear to my heart," he's said.

"I've won two Opens there and it's my favourite golf course in the world. I will be there for that one."

If Tiger Woods says he’ll be there, he’ll be there, and St Andrews is a much easier walk than Augusta – Woods won the Claret Jug there twice in 2000 and 2005 so knows a lot more than most of the other contenders about the nuances of the famous old links.

A win is unlikely, but making the cut is now more of a probability and he’ll likely get in a lot more links practice than others too, so don’t rule him out of finishing in the places and at least at some stage getting us all excited about the prospect of the Big Cat claiming a miraculous 16th major.