SCOTTIE Scheffler ran away with The Players Championship title on Sunday (Monday in Manila) and along with it took the No. 1 world ranking and the PGA Tour’s richest purse of $4.5 million.
It was another clinical effort from the unflappable American, who carded a final round three-under 69 on a gusty afternoon in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida for a commanding five-shot win over Briton Tyrrell Hatton, who closed with a 65.
A winning total of a 17-under 271 brought Scheffler his sixth career title and second in his last four starts as the Masters champion signaled, he is well prepared for next month’s Green Jacket defense.
Scheffler becomes just the third player, along with Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods, to hold both the Masters and Players Championship titles at the same time.
“This tournament feels like a major championship to me and this morning was tough,” said Scheffler. “I knew the conditions were going to get really hard late.
“I did a really good job of staying patient, not trying to force things, and then I got hot kind of in the middle of the round and tried to put things away as quickly as I could.”
Scheffler, who needed to finish in a tie for fifth or better to reclaim the number one spot from Jon Rahm, started the day two clear at the top of the leaderboard and got his round off to a slow start by going one-over through seven.
But the 26-year-old stepped on the gas through the turn by carding five consecutive birdies from the eighth to pull away from the field, opening up a six-shot advantage on Hatton, who was bidding to become the first Englishman to win golf’s unofficial fifth major.
Scheffler took his second bogey of the day at the 14th but steered clear of trouble the rest of the way home, including at the TPC Sawgrass’s infamous par-three 17th island green.
Like Scheffler, Hatton could not get much going on his first nine and reached the turn at even par.
But the Englishman caught fire after that and carded seven birdies, including five straight, to bring his round to a spectacular end. — Reuters
