Scheffler masterful in 5-shot TPC victory

Scottie Scheffler took on the scary TPC Sawgrass as if he was 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 straight birdies in the middle of his round, built a six-shot lead and left all the drama to everyone else on his way to a 3-under 69 to win the richest prize on the PGA Tour by five shots. The victory was worth $4.5 million and sent Scheffler back to No. 1 in the world for the second time this year. He now has six victories in his last 27 starts on the PGA Tour, including his Masters title last year.

When he poured in a 20-foot 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.”

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 shots behind in a tie for third, each making nearly $1.5 million from the $25 million purse.

Scheffler became only the third player to win at the TPC Sawgrass with all four rounds in the 60s.

Auto racing: William Byron won his second straight NASCAR Cup Series race, taking advantage of a pair of late cautions to give the Hendrick Motorsports team a win in overtime at Phoenix Raceway.

NBA: At Denver, Mikal Bridges scored 25 points and the Brooklyn Nets withstood a late rally and another triple-double by Nikola Jokic to beat the Denver Nuggets 122-120.

Jokic had 35 points, 20 rebounds and 11 assists for his league-leading 27th triple-double of the season.