PONTE VEDRA COASTLINE, Fla.– As Scottie Scheffler towered above his sphere existing awkwardly in the harsh over a greenside shelter on the 8th opening at the Stadium Course on Sunday, the males attempting to chase him in the last round of the Players Championship were self-imploding.
Australia’s Min Woo Lee began the round in 2nd location, 2 strokes behind Scheffler, however had actually currently carded a triple-bogey 7 on the par-4 4th opening. After one more careless strategy shot, Lee’s sphere was being in the sandon No 8. It caused one more bogey. It would not be his last.
Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, the 2021 Masters champ, attempted to make a late keep up 4 birdies on the front and also 3 straight on the back. But after that he had a dual bogey on the par-4 14th and also his tee shot on the 18th had actually resolved in want straw, causing one more bogey.
Max Homa, that has actually played regarding along with anybody on excursion not called Scheffler, Rory McIlroy or Jon Rahm this period, additionally was all of a sudden within striking range. After making simply one birdie on the front, Homa went a mixed 4 under on the initial 3 openings on the back. Then Homa captured a horrible break when his tee shot struck the sunbaked environment-friendly of the famous par-3 17th and also jumped off the back and also right into the water. A double-bogey 5 knocked him out of opinion.
With mayhem taking place around him, Scheffler did what he relatively constantly does. He comfortably took out a wedge, cracked his sphere a couple of feet left of the opening and after that enjoyed it roll in for his initial birdie of the round. Just like that, Scheffler had a 3-shot lead and also for all intents and also functions, the Players mored than. If there was any type of question left, he birdied the following 4 openings to open a 6-shot lead.
Scheffler, 26, wound up winning by 5 strokes over England’s Tyrrell Hatton and also 7 over Norway’s Viktor Hovland and alsoTom Hoge It was the best margin of success at the Players considering that Stephen Ames won by 6 in 2006.
Just over a year back, some golf followers could have asked yourself whether Scheffler would certainly ever before win on excursion. He required 71 expert begins to declare his initial PGA Tour success at the WM Phoenix Open in February 2022. In the 13 months ever since, Scheffler requires simply 26 begins to win 5 extra times, including his initial significant at the Masters.
With his most recent success at the supposed 5th significant, Scheffler accumulated $4.5 million, the most significant payment in males’s golf background. Since the beginning of last period, he has actually gained greater than $35 million in bags and also perks.
“I didn’t feel any different [after winning for the first time], but I would say I maybe am a bit more comfortable knowing what I need to do,” Scheffler claimed. “I think before Phoenix I had this idea that I had to play perfect on Sundays and hit nothing but good shots and that’s not necessarily how golf is played. Very rarely do I hit it exactly how I want to and maybe only a couple times a tournament. Most of it is just managing your way around a golf course. [Caddie] Teddy [Scott] has been a huge part of that just helping me stay patient and just kind of grinding things out and trusting ourselves. He’s been a huge part of that on the golf course.”
Scheffler additionally recovered theNo 1 place in the Official World Golf Ranking for the 3rd time in his occupation. Rahm, that went into the week atNo 1, was required to take out prior to the 2nd round since of a belly pest. McIlroy could not strike his motorist directly or make a putt and also missed out on the cut.
Scheffler signed up with Tiger Woods and also Jack Nicklaus as the only players to win the Masters and also the Players in a 12-month period. Woods did it in 2001; Nicklaus did it two times from 1974 to ’76, according to ESPN Stats & &Information Woods and also Scheffler are additionally the only players to win both of those events at age 26 or more youthful. Woods won the Masters 3 times and also the Players when prior to transforming 27.
“I think I get excited for a good hard test,” Scheffler claimed. “I feel like that I can find a way to make pars and hang in there. And I mean, this week I think I had five bogeys for the whole week. Around this place that’s really, really I would say hard to do and that’s probably what I’m most proud of is just playing so solid. Yeah, I think I just like the challenge of kind of harder golf courses.”
In much less than a month, Scheffler will certainly head back to Augusta National Golf Club with yet one more prize in his trunk. After he protected the Phoenix Open last month and also virtually went back-to-back at the Arnold Palmer Invitational recently, the Masters could intend to proceed and also dry-clean his environment-friendly coat.
“Yeah, he’s very impressive,” claimed Hatton, that published a 7-under 65 on Sunday to end up solo 2nd and also accumulate $2.725 million. “Incredibly consistent. He’s had an amazing 15-month stretch of golf. Played with him last Sunday [at Bay Hill] and it was clear he didn’t have his best that day, but he still hung around and had a chance there right at the end. It’s a pretty tough thing to do to be up there when you don’t have your best golf and still give yourself a chance to win.”
If anybody was waiting on Scheffler to make a huge error Sunday, it never ever came. Scheffler’s design could make vanilla feel like rough roadway, however it’s coming to be nearly sure-fire. He strikes fairways and also environment-friendlies. He hardly ever places himself on the incorrect side of the environment-friendly. He strikes techniques and also chip shots close sufficient to the opening that he does not need to be a fantastic putter. On the uncommon event when Scheffler does slip up, he does not worsen it. No one on the excursion has actually been much better at getting better.
Jordan Spieth, that plays a whole lot of golf with Scheffler back residence in Dallas, claimed it would certainly be unjust to define his efficiency over the previous 13 months as a “run.” Spieth won 7 times on excursion in 2015 and also ’16, consisting of 3 of the 4 majors.
“That golf is pretty incredible, given he lost in a couple playoffs, and his top-10s are off the charts,” Spieth claimed. “He’s just playing that good. I think the team around him and the way he’s wired, he’s extremely grounded. He’s got really good parents, great family structure. [His coach] Randy Smith’s been around for a long time, and he’s been with him forever. So I don’t see it changing. He’s in a good position to be able to continue to do this for a while.”
If anything, Scheffler is just improving. Spieth and also Max Homa spoke about Scheffler being extra bold around the environment-friendly.
“He’s got great hands. He’s got every shot,” Spieth claimed. “When you’re presented with those shots, if you don’t feel like you have house money, you play them a certain way. But if you feel like it doesn’t matter, you’re going to play the shot that could go closest, even if it means disaster could happen. You still sit there and go for it and pull it off, similar to how Phil Mickelson played most of his rounds.”
Added Homa: “I feel like he just knows what he’s going to do. He has this stabbing spinner. He’s got the really good kind of soft one out of the rough. I feel like he’s just very artistic in that way. I feel like he sees them going into the hole.”
Scheffler has actually won a lot, according to Spieth, he could seem like he has absolutely nothing to shed any longer.
“I started to just trust flop shots and stuff where instead of making sure you have a putt at it,” Spieth claimed, “you’re like, ‘No, I’m going to try and see this go in,’ and I feel like he’s just playing like that. There’s nothing to lose, everything to gain for him, and it’s a really nice place to be where he’s at. I’ve been there.”
