Scheffler goes back-to-back in Players thriller

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLA. » The roar could be heard from a half-mile away just 16 minutes after the final group set out Sunday in the final round of The Players Championship. It was loud enough to indicate something special had happened. The question was more “what” than “who.”

Moments later, Scottie Scheffler’s name appeared on the leaderboard, and he was on his way, adding another layer to his legend as the best in golf.

His 8-under 64 tied the Players Championship record for best Sunday score by a winner. His five-shot comeback matched another tournament record. And he now stands alone as the only back-to-back champion in 50 years of the PGA Tour’s premier championship.

“It’s tough enough to win one Players,” said Scheffler, who was coming off a fiveshot victory last week at Bay Hill. “So to have it back-toback is extremely special. Yeah, really thankful.”

For those trying to beat him, it was no surprise, even with Scheffler starting five shots behind.

“Just another week,” Xander Schauffele said when he saw that Scheffler had joined the chase.

Wyndham Clark didn’t see a leaderboard until No. 11 and Scheffler was tied for the lead.

“And I kind of chuckled and I said, ‘Yeah, of course.’ I mean, he’s the best player in the world,” Clark said.

Scheffler holed out for eagle from the fourth fairway — that was the enormous cheer — had four birdies in a five-hole stretch around the turn and had so much control of his game that he played the final 31 holes on the scary TPC Sawgrass without a bogey.

It added to a one-shot victory that came down to the very last putt.

Schauffele, Clark and Brian Harman all had a chance to force a playoff with a birdie on the daunting 18th hole at the TPC Sawgrass.

Clark had the last shot, a putt just inside 18 feet that dipped into the cup on the left side and came out on the right side, leaving him stunned as he placed his hand over his mouth.

“I don’t know how that putt doesn’t go in,” Clark said. “Even when it kind of lipped, I thought it would lip in. I’m pretty gutted it didn’t go in.”

Schauffele missed an eagle putt from 25 feet on the par-5 16th and a birdie putt from 6 feet on the island-green 17th. His approach from the pine straw on the 18th went long and his chances were gone. Harman missed a birdie putt on the 18th from about 18 feet.

They tied for second and each earned just short of $1.9 million from the $25 million purse, the largest in golf.

Scheffler finished at 20-under 268 and picked up $4.5 million for his ninth win worldwide, pushing him over $50 million for his career. And to think it was only two years and one month ago that he was still searching for his first win.