3 reasons to expect fireworks from Scheffler, Smith on Sunday
The Masters leaderboard heading into Sunday looks very familiar to anyone who's been following golf for the past five months.
The final round at Augusta National will feature the hottest golfer on the planet, Scottie Scheffler, trying to hold off his closest challenger to that title, Cameron Smith.
Sunday will also mark the first time since the 2015 PGA Championship that two top-10 players will make up the final group at a major championship.
Here are three reasons why we should expect fireworks from the dynamic duo.
Incredible form in 2022
Despite previously being a well-known commodity in the golfing world, Scheffler's rise this year has been otherworldly.
Following the RSM Classic in November, the Texan was 19th in the World Golf Rankings and winless on the PGA TOUR. But in his last five events, the 25-year-old won three times and became the world's top-ranked golfer.
WGC-Match Play: Win
Players Championship: 55th
Arnold Palmer Invitational: Win
Genesis Invitational: 7th
Phoenix Open: Win
Scheffler isn't winning small events, either. The Arnold Palmer Invitational, Phoenix Open, and WGC-Match Play all feature some of the best fields on the TOUR.
Smith is also no slouch. The Australian's fourth-place finish at the RSM Classic set the table for his incredible performance at the Tournament of Champions in the first week of January, where Smith broke the PGA TOUR scoring record with a 34-under over 72 holes.
Players Championship: Win
Genesis Invitational: 33rd
Sony Open: Missed Cut
Tournament of Champions: Win
RSM Classic: 4th
The biggest victory of his career came two months later in his adopted hometown of Jacksonville, with Smith winning the lucrative Players Championship.
Overall, Smith and Scheffler have earned the most World Ranking points so far in 2022, according to Justin Ray of the Twenty First Group.
Stats this season
The Sunday setup at Augusta is traditionally the easiest of the week, with pin positions inviting plenty of birdie chances for the field.
That should play well for both Scheffler and Smith, who rank among the best in the world at both birdies per round and overall scoring.
| STAT | SCHEFFLER | SMITH |
|---|---|---|
| Scoring average | 69.87 (6th) | 69. 27 (1st) |
| Final-round scoring | 69.00 (28th) | 67.00 (2nd) |
| Birdies per round | 4.90 (5th) | 5.58 (1st) |
Smith's scoring prowess was on full display earlier this year in Hawaii during his record-breaking 34-under. He poured in eight birdies on the final day to beat Jon Rahm by a stroke.
Scheffler's last two years on the PGA TOUR have produced an absurd 787 total birdies, second to only Sungjae Im during that span.
Through 54 holes at Augusta, Scheffler has posted 17 total birdies, with Smith just one behind at 16.
Calm conditions and friendly pin positions should lead to plenty of birdie chances for the final group Sunday.
Match-play history
Announcers love to use the term "match-play situation" to describe the final group in a tournament. While it's often overblown, Sunday's pairing is as close to that as possible.
That situation should favor Scheffler. He sports a remarkable 11-2-2 record in a match-play format, buoyed by back-to-back appearances in the WGC-Match Play final.
Perhaps Scheffler's most impressive one-on-one victory was on the final day of last year's Ryder Cup, in which the rookie dominated then-World. No. 1 Rahm for a 3-and-1 win.
Smith's overall match-play record of 5-5-2 won't blow anybody away, but a memorable 2-and-1 victory over Justin Thomas at the 2019 Presidents Cup resonated with golf fans around the world.
Im, or another player, could make an unlikely charge for the green jacket Sunday. But with 26 of the last 31 Masters champions coming from the final group, it's likely either Scheffler or Smith will win their first major championship.