Scottie Scheffler's meteoric rise continues | Lakers reportedly done with Frank Vogel

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Happy Monday, all! Hope you enjoyed a wonderful weekend of sports.

Let's get right to it.

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Good morning to everyone but especially to...

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER

On Thursday, Scottie Scheffler quietly fired a 69 -- two behind the leader -- at Augusta National and fell asleep in the hunt. On Friday, he shot a marvelous 67 and fell asleep with a five-stroke lead, tied for the largest through 36 holes in Masters history. On Saturday, Scheffler battled the elements masterfully, carded a 71 and fell asleep with a three-stroke lead.

Two holes into Sunday, he got quite the wake-up call. His lead had shrunk to one in the blink of an eye. Then he hit one of the best (and perhaps the most important) shots of his career -- a brilliant chip-in birdie -- and never looked back. After all of that, Scottie Scheffler is your 2022 Masters champion.

Exactly two months ago, Scheffler was regarded as one of the best players without any PGA Tour wins. Then, he...

Won the WM Phoenix Open on Super Bowl Sunday;
Added titles at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the WGC-Dell Tachnologies Match Play to become world No. 1.

Now, he has punctuated his rise with a green jacket. While one of Scheffler's biggest strengths on the course is his even-keeled demeanor, he "cried like a baby" before the final round and relied on one of his biggest supporters to compose himself, writes our golf scribe Kyle Porter.

Porter: "When he finally made the tournament-clinching putt, Scheffler raised his fists and cheered on the patrons who had roared for him across four straight days and 72 holes. But he did not cry. The tears had already been spent that morning at the rental house the Schefflers were sharing with Sam Burns and his wife, Caroline. As Scheffler struggled to face the monumental task of fending off (Cameron) Smith, (Rory) McIlroy and the rest of the best field in the world -- at a course that has reduced even bigger talents to ashes in its history of Sundays -- he said his wife's words were a balm."

What Scheffler has accomplished this season is simply remarkable. It's historic, too. He's only the second player ever to have four wins -- including a major and a World Golf Championship -- in a single season. The other? Tiger Woods. During a week in which Woods got most of the attention, Scheffler joined him in exclusive company in impressive fashion.

Here's how the top of the final leaderboard looked:

1. Scottie Scheffler (-10)
2. Rory McIlroy (-7)
T-3. Shane Lowry, Cameron Smith (-5)
5. Collin Morikawa (-4)

Honorable mentions

Joel Embiid won the scoring title.
The Nets are reportedly optimistic that Ben Simmons could return for the first round of the playoffs.
The NBA's Eastern Conference beat the Western Conference head-to-head for the second time this century.
Rory McIlroy tied the lowest final round in Masters history: a 64 capped by this incredible pitch-in from the bunker.
Here are the winners from MLB's opening weekend.
Roki Sasaki, a 20-year-old phenom pitching in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball, struck out 19 in a perfect game.

And not such a good morning for...

CAMERON SMITH...

For a moment Sunday, the 2022 Masters looked to be there for Cameron Smith's taking after he birdied the first two holes to cut Scheffler's lead to one. On the third hole, Smith and Scheffler had similar chips from short of the green. Scheffler miraculously made his. Smith ran his past the hole and made bogey.

One shot never makes or breaks a tournament, but in this case, it was never that close again:

Smith was still within three strokes after a birdie at 11.
But then he made a mess of 12, dumping his tee shot into the water ("a really bad swing at the wrong time," he said) and made triple bogey.
Before that, he was on pace to finish second, a payout of $1.62 million. He finished tied for third, earning $870,000 -- a $750,000 difference.

Smith's one heck of a player with two PGA Tour wins this season (and five in his career) to his name, but he'll certainly rue missing this chance for his first major.

... AND ALSO NOT SUCH A GOOD MORNING FOR FRANK VOGEL

After one of the most disappointing seasons in recent memory, the Lakers are expected to make wholesale changes this offseason. The first one is expected to come today: Frank Vogel will reportedly be fired as Lakers head coach. It ends a rollercoaster three years for Vogel in Los Angeles.

2019-20: 52-19, won championship
2020-21: 42-30, lost in first round of playoffs
2021-22: 33-29, missed playoffs and play-in tournament

Vogel was put in a tough spot, but, like his team as a whole, his performance wasn't good enough, writes our Lakers expert Sam Quinn:

Quinn: "Vogel's strength as a coach has always been his defensive acumen. The Lakers won the 2020 championship based on their defense, and last season, they ranked No. 1 in the league despite injuries to both LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Not even Vogel could save this season's Lakers roster, though, as they fell to No. 21 in defense. Couple that decline with Vogel's often baffling rotation decisions and the Lakers have decided to move on from their embattled coach."

Not so honorable mentions

Luka Doncic exited last night's season finale with a calf strain.
Matisse Thybulle is ineligible to play in Toronto for the 76ers' first-round series against the Raptors.
Gordon Hayward is out for the play-in tournament.
Here are the losers from MLB's opening weekend.

NBA playoffs, play-in tournament field set as regular season ends 🏀

The NBA regular season is over, and the playoffs (well, first the play-in tournaments) are upon us.

For the most part, the final day of the regular season ended up being pretty straightforward. Only two teams changed spots in the standings: The Celtics jumped the Bucks for the No. 2 seed in the East after Boston beat Memphis and Milwaukee rested its stars in a loss to Cleveland. The Celtics' "reward" could very well be the Nets if Brooklyn wins its play-in tournament game against the Cavaliers tomorrow.

Here's how the first round will look:

EAST

1. Heat vs 8. TBD (play-in)
2. Celtics vs 7. TBD (play-in)
3. Bucks vs 6. Bulls
4. 76ers vs 5. Raptors

WEST

1. Suns vs 8. TBD (play-in)
2. Grizzlies vs 7. TBD (play-in)
3. Warriors vs 6. Nuggets
4. Mavericks vs 5. Jazz

Here's the schedule for the opening round of play-in:

TUESDAY

East: No. 8 Cavaliers at No. 7 Nets, 7 p.m. on TNT
West: No. 8 Clippers at No. 7 Timberwolves, 9:30 p.m. on TNT

WEDNESDAY

East: No. 10 Hornets at No. 9 Hawks, 7 p.m. on ESPN
West: No. 10 Spurs at No. 9 Pelicans, 9:30 p.m. on ESPN

Here are our experts' picks for those games. Oh, and as a reminder, here's how the play-in works:

The first round is 7 seed hosts 8 seed and 9 seed hosts 10 seed
7 seed determined by 7-8 game
8 seed then determined by loser of 7-8 game vs winner of 9-10 game

Tiger Woods' return to golf meant much more than the final result 🐯

He struggled, hobbled and got mad. But he also persevered, competed and smiled.

Tiger Woods finished 47th at the 2022 Masters after shooting 78-78 on the weekend, but his return to competitive golf shows his competitive fire burns as strong as ever, writes Porter.

Porter: "What we saw at Augusta National this week is perhaps the rarest thing in sports: An all-time champion who would rather be back in the arena -- even at 50% capacity -- than outside of it admiring all that he's accomplished. ... Nobody was looking at Tiger Woods' score because nobody cared what it said. Instead, they were delighted -- just as he was -- that Tiger Woods, after 14 months of hell and no reprieve in sight, was able to enter the arena one more time to do what he's done better than anyone in history: compete."

Woods also committed to playing at the Open Championship at St. Andrews in July. Whether he plays between now and then -- particularly at the PGA Championship in May and/or at the U.S. Open in June -- is to be determined.

Rest in peace, Dwayne Haskins 🏈

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Dwayne Haskins, who starred at quarterback at Ohio State before playing for both Washington and Pittsburgh in the NFL, died Saturday morning at 24 years old. Haskins was hit by a dump truck while on foot on Interstate 595 near Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

In 2018, Haskins threw 50 touchdown passes and finished third in Heisman Trophy voting behind Kyler Murray and Tua Tagovailoa.
Months later, Washington selected him 15th overall in the 2019 NFL Draft.

Haskins started 13 games with Washington before being released late in the 2020 season, and he spent last season with Pittsburgh. He was tendered by the Steelers this offseason and expected to return to the team. He was working out with teammates in Florida prior to his death.

Tributes came pouring in from all around the NFL, including from Joe Burrow, Patrick Mahomes and Russell Wilson as well as former Steelers teammates Ben Roethlisberger and T.J. Watt, among others.