Scheffler cruises to five-stroke win at elite Players
Scottie Scheffler was mostly on cruise control on the way to a 3-under-par 69 in Sunday’s final round to win The Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
Scheffler, who posted a 17-under 271, claimed the top prize of $4.5 million with a five-stroke advantage over Tyrrell Hatton of England at TPC Sawgrass.
The 26-year-old is now the reigning champion of the Masters and the TPC. The only other golfers to hold those two titles at the same time were Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.
“I’m just trying to get a little bit better at a time, not overthink things and fortunately to be able to see some good results and enjoy some wins, and I’m very thankful,” Scheffler said.
It marked Scheffler’s second win on tour this year following the Phoenix Open last month.
Scheffler will take back the No. 1 world ranking, even though he said Saturday it was “just an algorithm” he didn’t place much stock in.
“For me, I would much rather win the tournament than get back to No. 1 in the world,” he said Saturday.
Hatton carded Sunday’s best round at 7-under 65. When he finished, he was within range of Scheffler, but only if the leader tanked down the stretch. Instead, Scheffler expanded his lead to six shots after reaching the round’s midway mark with a three-shot advantage.
Scheffler posted birdies on five consecutive holes, Nos. 8-12, to provide a comfortable working margin. That included a chip-in for a birdie from the greenside rough at the par-3 eighth.
“I knew the conditions were going to get really hard late and 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,” Scheffler said. “Tried to put things away as quickly as I could.”
He said he thrives on being in contention in the biggest tournaments.
“It’s a lot more fun being in the arena and being in the moment,” Scheffler said.
Hatton had birdies on the last five holes as part of a 29 on the back nine. That was the lowest back-nine score in a final round in the tournament’s history.