CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Scottie Scheffler labored tougher than he imagined and bought the consequence everybody anticipated Sunday within the PGA Championship: A most nice stroll to the 18th inexperienced with one other main title safe within the arms of golf’s No. 1 participant.
Scheffler was flawless when he needed to be on the again 9 of Quail Hole, leaving the blunders to Jon Rahm and everybody else making an attempt to catch him on a ultimate day that turned tense till Scheffler pulled away with a gradual weight-reduction plan of fairways and greens.
“This back nine will be one that I remember for a long time,” Scheffler mentioned. “It was a grind on the market. I believe at one level on the entrance I perhaps had a four- or five-shot lead, and making the flip, I believe I used to be tied for the lead.
“So to step up when I needed to the most, I’ll remember that for a while.”
He closed with a bogey he might afford for an even-par 71, giving him a five-shot victory and his third main title. Scheffler turned the primary participant since Seve Ballesteros to win his first three majors by three pictures or extra.
The margin doesn’t match up with the grind. That a lot was clear when Scheffler raised his arms on the 18th inexperienced after which ferociously slammed his cap to the turf, a model of emotion hardly ever seen by the 28-year-old Texas star.
Scheffler was 5 pictures forward coming to the final gap when he received his first Masters inexperienced jacket in 2022. He was 4 pictures away from the sphere when he received at Augusta Nationwide final 12 months. And he had a six-shot lead at Quail Hole.
However this positive didn’t really feel like a stroll within the park.
He had a five-shot lead standing on the sixth tee. However with a shaky swing that led to 2 bogeys, and with Rahm making three birdies in a four-hole stretch across the flip, they have been tied when Scheffler bought to the tenth tee.
It regarded like a duel to the end, with Bryson DeChambeau doing all he might to get within the combine. Beneath probably the most strain he felt all day, Scheffler didn’t miss a shot off the tee or from the golf green till his lead again to 4 pictures.
Rahm wound up seven pictures behind, however the two-time main champion was the one severe risk. His possibilities started to fade when he didn’t birdie the 14th and fifteenth holes, the 2 best holes on the again 9 and the final good scoring possibilities.
His 5-wood on the reachable par-4 14th was a yard from being excellent, as an alternative going into the bunker. He blasted out weakly and his 7-foot birdie putt by no means had an opportunity.
He drilled a 345-yard drive on the par-5 fifteenth and his 4-iron went simply over the again. Rahm putted it too laborious and it rolled 12 ft. He missed that birdie putt after which got here unglued.
A bogey on the sixteenth gap went he went from tough to bunker. Having to tackle a harmful pin on the par-3 seventeenth, it bounded over the sunbaked inexperienced into the water for double bogey. And his final tee shot went left off the grassy financial institution and into the stream for an additional double bogey.
All that work to make up a five-shot deficit at first of the day and Rahm closed with a 73 to tie for eighth.
“Yeah, the last three holes, it’s a tough pill to swallow right now,” mentioned Rahm, his first time significantly contending in a serious since he left for the Saudi riches of LIV Golf two years in the past.
“I’ll get over it. I’ll move on,” Rahm mentioned. “Again, there’s a lot more positive than negative to think about this week. I’m really happy I put myself in position and hopefully learn from this and give it another go in the U.S. Open.”
DeChambeau birdied the 14th and fifteenth to get inside two pictures, however he by no means had one other good have a look at birdie and bogeyed the 18th for a 70. He tied for second with Harris English (65) and Davis Riley, who overcame a triple bogey on No. 7 to play bogey-free the remainder of the way in which and salvaged a 72.
“I’m baffled right now. Just felt like things just didn’t go my way this week,” DeChambeau mentioned. “I drove it as good as I can. … I gave myself a good chance. I just felt like a couple breaks went a different way.”
J.T. Poston, the North Carolina native who additionally flirted with an outdoor probability, bogeyed the final two holes for a 73 to tie for fifth.
English completed his Sunday-best rating as Scheffler was making his approach down the third gap. He had a flight to catch that afternoon. He additionally was the clubhouse chief. However he checked out Scheffler’s identify atop the leaderboard and mentioned with a smile, “I don’t see him slipping a whole lot. I see myself catching my flight.”
However then Scheffler unable to seek out his swing. He hit solely two fairway on the entrance 9. He didn’t convert birdies on the par-5 seventh and the reachable par-4 eighth. On eight of his 9 holes, his miss was to the left. And he was tied with the red-hot Rahm.
However a part of Scheffler’s greatness is his skill to put on down a discipline, which he did on the Masters each instances he received.
“I hit the important shots well this week, and that’s why I’m walking away with the trophy,” Scheffler mentioned.
He completed at 11-under 273 and picked up his fifteenth victory in simply his sixth 12 months on the PGA Tour. Courting to 1950, Scheffler is the third-fastest participant to go from one to fifteen tour wins, behind solely Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus, and even then by a matter of months.
His victory comes a month after Rory McIlroy captured the Masters to finish the profession Grand Slam. The PGA Championship was all the time going to be a tricky act to comply with and it didn’t come shut by way of drama. But it surely served as a reminder why Scheffler has been No. 1 for 2 straight years, and why it should take quite a bit to interchange him.
McIlroy made the lower on the quantity, shot 72-72 on the weekend and tied for forty seventh. It was his lowest 72-hole end in 4 years within the majors. McIlroy declined all 4 days to talk to the media.
Scheffler got here into the PGA Championship off an eight-shot victory within the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. After which he received a serious by 5. It was the primary time since Woods in 2000 {that a} participant received consecutive PGA Tour begins by 5 pictures or extra in the identical season.
