The victory of the PGA championship reaffirms the place of Scottie Scheffler at the top of sport
Charlotte, NC – Jon Rahm descended the 16th slope Fairway to the Hollow Country Club quail, the head bowed. The severe facial expression that he hid under his bright pink hat gave nothing because the sounds that came from the 14th neighboring green through the water, where Scottie Scheffler had just raised Birdie by two shots, completely stated his major championship fate.
“Even if you don’t want to look at the rankings,” said Rahm, “the crowd lets you know.”
For a brief moment, Rahm was seemed capable of doing the unthinkable: finding player No. 1 of the world, which started the shots of day five ahead of Rahm, a big championship on Sunday. After attaching the advance on the 11th hole thanks to the Scheffler 2 inhaled against the nine before, it seemed that Rahm had accumulated the momentum and was ready to run down to the Wanamaker trophy.
But beat Scheffler requires more than just a good golf section. The trade mark of the major winner now triple is not a flash but stability and a strange capacity to be imperturbable in the face of errors. The pressure he exerts on his opponents occurs organically; His game is so solid and the ball test that those who try to beat him know that the effort necessary to survive the best player in the world will be Herculean.
Scheffler’s inevitability was hung at Charlotte Air Dyle Air on Sunday. This is why when Rahm left the 16th green with a Bogey and Scheffler had played 14 and 15 in 2 sous, the Spaniard could not help but go bankrupt. His tee shot on the 17th hole par-3 found the water. Game finished.
“This return to new will be the one that I have been remember for a long time,” said Scheffler. “To intensify when I needed it, I will remember it for a while.”
Nine years ago, during the 2006 PGA championship, Luke Donald watched a similar type of film unfold. Donald – Then the 10th player classified in the world – held a share of the head after 36 holes and pulled a 66 at the Medinah Country Club on Saturday to reach 14 sous. There was only one problem: Tiger Woods led a 65 course record that day to go on Sunday in equality for the head with Donald. At this point, Woods was 11-0 in majors where he at least held a share of the advance of 54 holes.
“Tiger had this kind of aura that you just have the impression that you need to do more than what you need to really raise your game to beat him,” said Donald on Sunday after finishing his last round at Quail Hollow. “And I think he understood this.”
This Sunday, Woods and Donald played in the last twinning, and Woods pulled 68 on his way to win his 12th major victory by five shots in second place. Sunday in Charlotte, Scheffler, who now has 3-0 with a major advance of 54 holes, finished with the same margin of victory: five strokes.
“He just played his game, did not make too many mistakes and carried you, and I certainly lived it in 2006,” said Donald about Woods. “I think Scottie is a similar type of player when he gets his head.”
Since Scheffler won the 2024 Masters and positioned himself firmly in addition to sport, many things have happened. Xander Schauffele won two majors, Bryson Dechambeau himself reached two majors, and Rory McILroy finally obtained his green jacket and the Grand Chelem.
Scheffler was far from being forgotten during this period – he won six times on tour and had three other top 10 in Majors – but a little story was starting to germinate: when Scheffler wins a major who is not the masters?
That Rahm was Scheffler’s aluminum paper on Sunday. They placed green jackets on the other’s shoulders, and they entered the tournament with two majors each. Now Scheffler slides above not only from Rahm, but Dechambeau, Schauffele, Collin Morikawa and Justin Thomas. He is the player of his generation, and everyone is just trying to catch up with the catch -up.
“There were times when I feel like I was in a hurry,” said Dechambeau, who finished tied for second place. “I have to be more precise and repair what I can repair to make myself more consistent and climb up up there, like what Scottie is doing right now.”
In the past 24 months, no one has received any more praise from their peers than Scheffler, because they have all tried to explain its greatness while amazing simultaneously.
“I played a lot of golf with him, and it seems that each blow has an amplitude of force and I find its way up up there,” said Sam Burns.
With Scheffler, nothing ever feels out of the rails. Even after having made three bogeys on the first nine and fought a miss to the left with his swing, he did not seem agitated. Throughout the week, he worked with his trainer, Randy Smith, by moving his hips towards the target more effectively, and for a while, it seemed that bad habits go to his swing again. But then, Scheffler intensified on the 10th TEE, aimed more at the suggestion of his Caddy Ted Scott, made sure that he was doing a complete turn and racing it. Something has clicked. After three additional birdies through 15 holes, Scheffler’s victory again felt inevitable.
“I felt like it was as difficult that I fought for a tournament in my career,” said Scheffler, whose driver was also judged non -compliant before the tournament, forcing him to play with a new this week. “Finishing a major championship is still difficult. I didn’t have my best things, but I kept myself in it. I was fighting on my swing the first days.”
Scheffler has already attracted many comparisons with Woods in his last two seasons because of his elite ball. But that he can gain without his best and earn a lot when he draws, is also like Woods to do his peak.
“He just doesn’t become too high or low, but his game speaks for himself,” said Donald. “And he hates to lose.”
As Scheffler has won more and became a must -see of sport spotlights, he allowed himself to show and say exactly how much he wants. At 2024 Masters, he shared how nervous he had been and that he wanted not to want to win as badly as him. Scheffler wiped tears on Sunday on the 18th Fairway Hollowy Fairway before throwing his hat on the Green in ecstasy and shouting for a few moments after the drop in the final putt. He is no longer just a double winner of the masters, but now, a triple major champion at 27 years old, halfway from the Grand Slam.
“Sometimes, I would like me to care as much as I am – or like me,” said Scheffler after his last lap. “It would be much easier if I could introduce myself and be like, huh, win or lose, I will always go home and do anything. Sometimes I feel that. But at the end of the day, it means a lot for me.”
“He wants to win every time he comes out here, it doesn’t matter if it’s golf, pickleball, anyway, he wants to win,” said Smith. “I continue to assimilate to other sports. You have the basketball guy, you always know who it is in a team, who wants the ball with a second on the left, and that’s how it is.”
If McILroy’s emotional victory at the Masters this year was the end of a scenario, Scheffler’s victory at Quail Hollow was a right reminder of the one who only strengthens. McILroy could have the best year in sport, but the title of the best player in the world still belongs to Scheffler.
