Scheffler rolls to Players triumph
Scottie Scheffler took on the scary TPC Sawgrass as if he were playing alone. And by the time he got done with a masterful performance Sunday in the Players Championship, that’s about how it looked.
Scheffler ran off five consecutive birdies in the middle of his round, built a sixstroke lead and left all the drama to everyone else on his way to a three-under-par 69 to win the richest prize on the PGA Tour by five shots in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
The victory was worth $4.5 million and sent Scheffler back to No. 1 in the world for the second time this year. He has six victories in his last 27 starts on the PGA Tour, including the four wins he had last year culminated by his Masters title.
When he poured in a 20foot par putt on the final hole, Scheffler had the largest margin of victory in the Players since Stephen Ames won by six in 2006.
“I got hot in the middle of the round and tried to put things away as quickly as I can,” Scheffler said. “Gosh, it’s fun.”
And then the celebration was on with his wife, parents, sister and 87-year-old grandmother, who kept pace with him for so much of the day.
That’s something the strongest field of the year couldn’t do.
Tyrrell Hatton birdied his last five holes for a 65, finishing when Scheffler was making the turn. Viktor Hovland (68) and Tom Hoge (70) were seven strokes behind in a tie for third, each making nearly $1.5 million from the $25-million purse.
Scheffler, who finished at 17-under 271, became only the third player to win at the TPC Sawgrass with all four rounds in the 60s.
Min Woo Lee of Australia, making his Players Championship debut, briefly was tied for the lead but finished with a 76.
Lee made one too many blunders, not that it would have changed anything the way Scheffler lit up the TPC Sawgrass. One of the miscues came on the par-four fourth when Lee was tied for the lead. He chipped out of the rough only for his third shot to spin back into the water, leading to a triple bogey.
By the time he recovered, Scheffler was racing away.
Hatton, who started the final round nine shots behind, finished off his five straight birdies with a fouriron out of the pine straw and around the trees to 20 feet. He won $2.725 million.
Campillo hangs on for win in Kenya
Jorge Campillo held on to his overnight lead to win the European Tour’s Kenya Open in Nairobi by two strokes with a five-under 66.
The Spaniard put together six birdies and dropped just one shot in the final round at Muthaiga Golf Club to get to 18-under 266 and stay ahead of Japan’s Masahiro Kawamura, who closed with a 66 to place second.
Campillo captured his third tour title and first since the 2020 Qatar Masters.