The fourth and final round of the 2024 Masters got underway Sunday morning to cap a tournament marked by unruly weather and at least one history-making moment, with the world’s top golfers contending for the championship title and this year’s unprecedented prize. Golf icon and returning Masters champion Tiger Woods opened the tournament’s last leg with his 100th round at the major.
Among those favored to win were 27-year-olds Scottie Scheffler and Collin Morikawa, both of whom play on the PGA Tour and each with an impressive record. Scheffler has been ranked No. 1 in the world for more than two years now and also won the 2022 Masters tournament, which was his first major championship win. Morikawa began his professional career on the PGA Tour with 22 consecutive cuts, a streak that came second only to Woods’ record 25, and went on to win two major championships during his debut season.
The Masters Tournament is an invitational event held yearly at the Augusta National Golf Club, a private golf course in Augusta, Georgia. Since its establishment in 1934, the tournament has grown to become one of the four most important championships in men’s professional golf. The tournament typically takes place during the first week of April, so they are the first major event of every season, followed by the PGA Championships, the U.S. Open and the Open Championship, which are usually held in May, June and July, respectively.
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Scheffler and Morikawa held first and second on the 2024 Masters leaderboard, in that order, heading into the fourth round, on Sunday. They were set to tee off in the afternoon as the last pairing of the day. Xander Schauffele and Bryson DeChambeau were also scheduled to begin their play in a featured afternoon slot, with DeChambeau in fifth place on the leaderboard and Schauffele in sixth. Both 30-year-old American pros were still in the running to take home the green jacket — which is awarded annually to the Masters champion — alongside 33-year-old Max Homa and the 24-year-old Swedish professional Ludvig Åberg. Homa entered the tournament’s fourth round at No. 3 on the leaderboard, while Åberg trailed closely behind in the fourth spot.
Spanish golfer Jon Rahm, the 29-year-old who won the Masters tournament last year, returned to the course Sunday to defend his title, although his performances during the preceding rounds this weekend meant he was no longer competing to win. Woods had fallen out of contention, too, by the tournament’s last day. After making his 24th consecutive cut on Friday, which was a new record at the championship, the star golfer went on to shoot a personal worst during the next and third round. At 48, Woods is a decorated golfing champion with five previous wins at the Masters. He teed off Sunday morning with the 23-year-old amateur Neal Shipley, commencing his 100th Masters round.
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Whichever golfer emerges ahead of the rest once Sunday’s round has finished will receive a huge cash prize in addition to the traditional green jacket, which is bestowed every year onto the Masters winner who then returns it the following year for the next Masters champion. The overall purse for the 2024 Masters is $20 million, setting a new record-high and jumping $2 million from last year’s prize fund.
The champion this year will receive $3.6 million from the purse, which is also a new record and up from the $3.2 million payout that Rahm received for his Masters win in 2023. What remained of the total $18 million purse in that case was divided among 50 golfers who participated in the tournament, with their individual scores determining how much prize money they were eventually awarded.