Scottie Scheffler has a gift that is rare in golf. The 26-year-old American manages to sink the ball from outside the green more often than almost any other professional. This year he has managed these “hole outs”, as they are called in industry jargon, eleven times – and the eleventh on Sunday had a very special effect. Scheffler began a series of five birdies with this spectacular save from deep grass on the eighth hole of TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
“I overheated in the middle of the lap and tried to get things done as quickly as possible,” said Scheffler. He was so far ahead of all his pursuers that he won the Players Championship, the flagship tournament of the PGA Tour, with a total of 271 strokes (17 under par) with a five-stroke lead over the Englishman Tyrell Hatton.
“He’s an artist”
It was the biggest win at the tournament since 2006, when Canadian Steven Ames cleared his nearest competitor by six shots. Scheffler not only received the highest prize money of the year of 4.5 million dollars (almost 4.22 million euros), the Texan from Dallas also pushed Spaniard Jon Rahm from first place in the world rankings.
It was already the sixth victory in the past 13 months in 27 tournaments for the new Primus. Only Rahm, who had to retire after the first round due to stomach problems, has recorded as many wins during this period, including two on the DP World Tour. Northern Ireland crowd favorite Rory McIlroy, who missed victory by just one shot last week, missed the cut this time and remains third in the pecking order.
But Scheffler doesn’t just win because he has seemingly magical powers on and around the green. When he’s under pressure, he exudes so much confidence that he’ll outdo his opponents with his tee shots, his shots with his irons on the greens – and that in stroke play as well as in match play (in the coming week he wants his title at of the WGC Match Play Championship in Austin, Texas). “He’s an artist,” is how his golf instructor Randy Smith describes his protégé, whom he took under his wing at the age of ten.
His protégé especially loves to show off his creativity and skills when the elite gather. Scheffler narrowly missed out on winning the US Open last year and had to settle for second place behind Englishman Matt Fitzpatrick. On the last few holes, Scheffler enjoyed defending his lead so effortlessly. Because for a long time he had struggled with the fact that he had missed his chances of winning a few times.
The sting was very deep that in September at the season finale, the Tour Championship, a lead of six shots on the last day was not enough for him to win this tournament and the FedExCup. Both went to McIlroy, who was rewarded with 18 million dollars (around 16.87 million euros). “It made me very sad and difficult to process. This victory is all the sweeter,” said Scheffler, especially since the Players Champions feels like a major to him.
He’d also accomplished what only legends Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods had done before, winning this season’s highlight as reigning Masters champion. It didn’t matter to Scheffler – and also to the 36,000 fans who accompanied the players every day – that everyone who switched to the Saudi Arabian-funded rival series LIV Golf, including Australian defending champion Cameron Smith, from this major event were excluded.