CHARLOTTE, N.C. — One yr and at some point after his reserving mugshot was the lasting picture of the PGA Championship, Scottie Scheffler was elevating the Wanamaker Trophy for all to see Sunday because the world’s No. 1 golfer captured his third profession main at Quail Hole Membership.
Scheffler posted an even-par 71 within the remaining spherical of the 107th PGA Championship for a five-stroke victory over Harris English, Bryson DeChambeau and Davis Riley. What had appeared inevitable initially of the day started to slide away, a minimum of for a short second, as Scheffler made the flip and was tied with Spain’s Jon Rahm on a sweltering, humid afternoon in North Carolina.
However then Scheffler stepped on the fuel on the again 9, as he has achieved so many occasions earlier than, and Rahm imploded on the “Inexperienced Mile” — Quail Hole’s treacherous three-hole closing stretch.
After making the ultimate putt, Scheffler threw his arms into the air as the gang chanted his identify. He spiked his hat on the inexperienced. He discovered his spouse, Meredith, and son, Bennett. His father, Scott, advised him: “Phrases can’t describe what we simply witnessed. You’re so powerful. We’re so happy with you.”
“Simply plenty of happiness,” Scheffler mentioned. “I feel, , simply perhaps grateful as properly. It was a protracted week. I felt like this was as onerous as I battled for a event in my profession. This was a reasonably difficult week.”
Within the span of solely three hundred and sixty six days, Scheffler’s story went from being in handcuffs behind a squad automobile to including the Wanamaker Trophy to an already outstanding profession that features two Masters inexperienced jackets.
“It is undoubtedly very candy sitting right here with the trophy,” Scheffler mentioned. “I undoubtedly have a couple of jokes that I wish to say that I am in all probability going to maintain to myself.”
Scheffler joined Seve Ballesteros as the one golfers previously 100 years to win every of their first three majors by greater than three strokes. He captured the 2022 Masters by three over Rory McIlroy and the 2024 Masters by 4 over Ludvig Åberg.
It was the fifteenth PGA Tour victory for the 28-year-old Scheffler. Since World Battle II, solely two different golfers have gained 15 occasions on tour and captured three majors earlier than age 29 — Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.
Scheffler struggled together with his driver on the entrance 9, hitting solely two of his first seven fairways. Left with too many photographs out of the deep tough, he did not have many attractiveness at birdies.
He acknowledged after the spherical that the USA Golf Affiliation had additionally deemed his driver nonconforming in testing on Tuesday, which he mentioned wasn’t a shock as a result of he’d been utilizing his outdated driver for greater than a yr.
Scheffler, nonetheless, mentioned having a brand new driver wasn’t his downside Sunday; it was his swing.
“I feel that was my fault,” Scheffler mentioned.
On the flip, caddie Ted Scott provided him some easy recommendation.
“He was hitting the whole lot left, and he was like, ‘You see something?'” Scott mentioned.
Scott’s reply to Scheffler: “The swings look good, however the whole lot’s going left. Possibly goal proper.”
“I used to be simply attempting to be an fool and simply see what occurred,” Scott advised reporters after the spherical. “And he stepped up on 10 and hit an ideal drive. And I mentioned, ‘There he’s.’ That is the one factor I mentioned to him.
“Then he began hitting it nice and began feeling good and cozy. He began type of figuring out the place the ball was going to come back off, and that is again to Scottie Scheffler golf.”
After squandering a three-stroke lead, Scheffler reclaimed it with a 9-foot birdie putt on No. 10. He went two in entrance with a 7-footer on No. 14, then led by three when Rahm made his first bogey of the spherical on No. 16.
One other birdie on the fifteenth gave Scheffler a four-shot cushion heading into the “Inexperienced Mile.” It will develop to 5 earlier than he reached the sixteenth inexperienced.
“This again 9 might be one which I bear in mind for a very long time,” Scheffler mentioned. “It was a grind on the market. I feel at one level on the entrance, I perhaps had a four- or five-shot lead, and making the flip, I feel I used to be tied for the lead. So to step up after I wanted to essentially the most, I am going to do not forget that for some time.”
Rahm was tied with Scheffler at 9 underneath after his twelfth gap. He had attractiveness at birdies on Nos. 13 and 14 however missed each. After making par on the fifteenth, Rahm hit his tee shot on the par-4 sixteenth method left, resulting in a bogey.
On the par-3 seventeenth, his tee shot bounced off the inexperienced and into the water, and he made a double-bogey 5. On the final gap, he hit his drive into the creek down the left facet, main to a different double bogey. He was 5 over in his final three holes and tied for eighth at 4 underneath.
It was a disappointing end for the two-time main champion, who hadn’t been within the combine at a serious since tying for second at The Open in 2023.
“Am I embarrassed a little bit bit about how I completed immediately?” Rahm mentioned. “Yeah, however I simply must recover from it, recover from myself. It isn’t the tip of the world.”
Scheffler reached the flip at 2-over 37, his benefit was down to at least one over Rahm, who then tied for the lead with a birdie on No. 11 following birdies on Nos. 8 and 10.
Rahm, who began the spherical 5 photographs behind Scheffler, was wild off the tee, discovering solely two of the primary 10 fairways. He wanted simply 13 putts within the first 11 holes, nonetheless, chipping brilliantly when he missed the inexperienced and avoiding bogeys.
It was a far totally different feeling for Scheffler from final yr’s PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Membership in Louisville, Kentucky.
On Could 17, 2024, Scheffler discovered himself behind a squad automobile after a Louisville Metro Police officer mentioned that the golfer disobeyed his command to cease and that he tried to drive round a crash scene on a median. Visitors exterior the golf course had been stopped after a person was struck and killed by a shuttle bus round 5 a.m. ET.
An arrest report mentioned Detective Bryan Gillis was dragged “to the bottom” and suffered “ache, swelling, and abrasions to his left wrist” after Scheffler’s automobile “accelerated ahead.”
Scheffler was charged with felony assault and a number of other misdemeanors. However 12 days after his arrest, Jefferson County Lawyer Mike O’Connell dropped the costs in opposition to Scheffler and mentioned the golfer’s characterization that the incident was a “massive misunderstanding” was corroborated by the proof.
Going into final yr’s PGA Championship, Scheffler had gained 4 of his previous 5 begins, together with his second Masters victory that April. After being booked right into a downtown detention middle, he was launched on bond lower than an hour and a half earlier than his second-round tee time.
In some way, Scheffler posted a 5-under 66 that day. He slipped to a 2-over 73 within the third spherical, which knocked him out of the hunt. He bounced again with a 65 on Sunday and tied for eighth at 13 underneath, eight strokes behind winner Xander Schauffele.
On Sunday, he added one other chapter to his rising legacy that figures to final for much longer than his reserving mugshot.
“Final yr, generally it nonetheless would not virtually really feel actual,” Scheffler mentioned. “It actually would not. It is simply a type of offers that I actually do not know learn how to describe it. However I can let you know it’s extremely candy sitting right here with the trophy this yr.
“It is a fairly candy feeling.”
