Scheffler wins on third playoff hole

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Scottie Scheffler outlasted Ryder Cup teammate Patrick Cantlay on the third hole of a playoff Sunday in the WM Phoenix Open, making a 25-foot birdie putt that had just enough momentum to tumble in.

Cantlay missed an 11-foot birdie try after Scheffler holed his putt.

Scheffler birdied four of the final six holes for a fourunder 67 to match Cantlay at 16-under 268 at TPC Scottsdale on another sunny, 80degree day. Cantlay, playing a group ahead of Scheffler, had a bogey-free 67.

Scheffler broke through in his 71st PGA Tour start. Before Sunday, the 25-yearold former University of Texas star’s biggest professional highlights were beating Jon Rahm in September in United States’ Ryder Cup victory at Whistling Straits and shooting a 59 in the 2020 Northern Trust.

Scheffler and Cantlay matched pars on the first two extra trips down 18, with both players hitting the fairway and green the first time and both scrambling to save par on the second.

Scheffler missed a chance to end it in regulation when his 51⁄2-foot birdie try slid right. On the stadium par-three 16th, he left a birdie putt two inches short.

Nine strokes back entering the weekend, Scheffler shot a 62 on Saturday to pull to within two strokes of leader Sahith Theegala and get into the final group.

Theegala, a rookie from Diamond Bar High and Pepperdine, lost a share of the top spot with a bogey on the par-four 17th after driving left into the water. The 24-year-old shot a 70 to tie for third at 15 under with 2021 winner Brooks Koepka (69) and Xander Schauffele (68).

Theegala missed a chance to become the first player to win on a sponsor exemption since Martin Laird in the 2020 Shriners Children’s Open.

Koepka, also the 2015 winner, closed with birdies on 17 and 18.