2022 Masters: Season's best battle for green jacket as Cameron Smith aims to top red-hot Scottie Scheffler

Scheffler and Smith have combined for five wins already this year with a sixth sure to come Sunday

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Rarely in sports do the two best teams or players in a given season meet for the game's biggest prize. Think of all the near-titanic clashes that haven't happened over the years. Upsets take place, teams blow leads and fans are left hypothesizing what could have been.

The 2022 Masters is not one of those times. By any metric and from any angle, Scottie Scheffler and Cameron Smith have been the world's two best golfers in 2022, and on Sunday afternoon at Augusta National, they'll meet on the first tee with nobody else even close to them as they square off for a green jacket.

Scheffler leads the way at 9 under after a 1-under 71 on Saturday that wobbled a bit late as he shot 38 on the second nine. Smith is three back at 6 under after his second 68 of the week (and Saturday's the round of the day). The pair emerged from a cold, windy, often-lifeless third round in which beanies were more prominent than the booming roars that normally trundle down the hills and hollows of Augusta National on Saturday afternoon.