The Riverside Press-Enterprise
Scheffler first to win Players back-to-back after record 64
Already the best in the world, Scottie Scheffler added another layer to his growing legacy Sunday. He became the first player to win back-to-back in 50 years of The Players Championship by matching the biggest comeback and the lowest closing round by a winner.
Scheffler holed out for eagle from the fourth fairway and had four birdies in a five-hole stretch around the turn, sending him to an 8-under 64 and a oneshot victory in that wasn’t decided until the final putt.
Xander Schauffele, Brian Harman and Wyndham Clark all had a chance to force a playoff with a birdie on the daunting 18th hole at the TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
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.
Scheffler, who started the final round five shots behind, was on the practice range preparing for a three-hole playoff when he got the word and showed more emotion than usual for someone who is getting used to winning.
This was no ordinary week. He struggled to take the club back early in his second round because of a neck issue and battled to a 69. He looked to be out of it Saturday afternoon until finishing with three straight birdies.
And then he delivered a masterpiece on the Players Stadium Course. His 64 matched the lowest final round by a Players champion, last done by Davis Love III in 2003, and he tied Justin Leonard (1998) with
his five-shot comeback.
Scheffler finished the PGA Tour’s premier championship without a bogey over the final 31 holes and during a tense final hour involving four of the top 10 players in the world.
All of them had their chances.
Schauffele, who started the final round with a oneshot lead, was still in control until he missed tee shots to the right on the 14th and 15th holes and couldn’t salvage par. He had a 6-foot birdie chance on the island-green 17th — the toughest hole at Sawgrass on Sunday — and didn’t come close to a reasonable birdie chance hitting out of the pine straw on the 18th.
He finished with a 70. Harman hung around long enough to have a chance, but he missed out on a birdie chance at the par-5 16th and couldn’t convert birdie chances over the last two holes in his round of 68.
Clark also made late push. He narrowly missed a 12-foot eagle putt on the 16th. He rode the slope to 4
feet for birdie on the 17th. And his birdie to force a playoff looked good all the way until it wasn’t. Clark shot a 69.
Scheffler finished at 20-under 268 and won $4.5 million from the $25million purses, pushing the 27-year-old from Dallas over the $50 million mark in his career.
Lakers' Davis hurt in loss to Warriors
The Lakers’ roller coaster of a season, and the emotions that come with it, continued in their 128-121 home loss to the Golden State Warriors on Saturday night at Crypto.com Arena.
There were the highs of Lebron James scoring a season-high-tying 40 points to keep the Lakers in the game.
But there were the lows of Anthony Davis leaving the game early because of an eye contusion, being limited to 12 first-quarter minutes after getting hit in the left eye by Trayce Jacksondavis on a layup late in the first quarter.
And then there was the weirdness of the final two minutes — which took nearly 22 minutes of realtime to finish because of reviews and malfunctioning shot clocks.
Davis’ exit from Saturday’s game was immediately felt.
Golden State, led by Stephen Curry (31 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists), Jonathan Kuminga (23 points) and Klay Thompson (26 points off the bench), got into the paint with ease once Davis was no longer on the floor.
The Warriors scored just four points in the paint in the 12 first-quarter minutes that Davis played. They scored 58 in the final three quarters.
Lakers coach Darvin Ham said that Davis wasn’t able to see out of his left eye after getting hit and suffered from blurred vision.
NHL Kings go 0-3 against the Stars this season
Scott Wedgewood made 27 saves to win a matchup of backup goaltenders and defenseman Thomas Harley had a goal and an assist to help lead the Dallas Stars past the Kings 4-1 on Saturday night.
Wedgewood outdueled David Rittich in net to beat the Kings for the second time in eight days. Craig Smith, Wyatt Johnston and Jamie Benn also scored for the Stars, who took a 3-0 first-period lead and avoided losing a third consecutive game in regulation for the first time since April 2022.
Dallas swept the threegame season series against L.A. by a combined 13-3.
Rittich stopped 25 shots for the Kings, and Kevin Fiala had the Kings’ only goal against Wedgewood.