Scottie Scheffler dominates Players Championship and wins record payday

This one was a laugh, folks. There’s no other way to put it than how Scottie Scheffler manipulated the field at this week’s Players Championship. And especially since Scheffler did laugh after hitting his tee shot on Sunday’s 72nd hole. Really rough? No big deal.

Pete Dye’s TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course was built to add drama and impart precision, particularly on the watery final stretch, highlighted by the iconic par 3 island 17 green. But the reigning Masters champion essentially made the PGA Tour tent tournament a disappointing exhibition.

Scheffler, who started the day with a two-shot lead, finished with a three-pointer under 69 to end the week under 17, winning with five and the biggest winner’s check ($4.5 million) from the biggest Win regular PGA Tour prize money. season history.

It’s the 26-year-old Texan’s second win of the season following his win at the Worlds Phoenix Open last month. It’s also his first Players title and sends him back to world No. 1, where he ousts Jon Rahm at the top.

Scheffler’s win lacked drama, but the fight for second place was pretty good. Tyrrell Hatton started the day tied 26th but set a back nine scoring record with seven under 29 to take the clubhouse lead to 12 under. This turned out to be the number where the majority of the non-Scheffler contenders sat around most of the day on Sunday, but none stayed there.

And since the players boasted the biggest purse ever, that meant Hatton’s heater was worth a solo second and $2.725 million, which is basically what Scheffler received for winning the Masters last season .

But despite how this one ended, he wasn’t an immediate outlier.

Scheffler’s two-shot lead was reduced to one after Min Woo Lee, who played with him in the last pairing, screwed the first hole and a Scheffler bogey on 3 equalized them at 13-under. Several holes ahead, Hideki Matsuyama also made a move, making six of eight birdies to drop to 12 under and just one.

But within minutes, the entire ranking was shuffled.

Matsuyama did a double bogey in 14th place and around the same time Lee found the water and made a triple in 4th place. Thus, Scheffler held a three-shot lead over Maysuyama, Lee, and Max Homa, who are at No. 10-12 to climb the leaderboard.

Viktor Hovland later went under on 10 as well, making him a four player three strokes behind Scheffler and everyone wondered if he would let them back in. He did not do it.

Lee shagged 7 to cut the lead back to two, but Scheffler ripped open from the 8th. He chipped in for birdie, which turned out to be the first of five straights that put him miles ahead. The last of that stretch – he rolled in a 3-foot toss on the par-4 12 – gave him a six-stroke lead over Hatton. Lee, just two down on the 8th tee, was suddenly 10 behind.

Even the rare blemish didn’t hurt him. Scheffler missed the fairway on 14 and had to hole out and made a bogey. He parried 15 and 16 and went five shots clear to tee off on the devilish 17th hole. Five shots are important, but the 17th hole has ruined countless rounds for pros and amateurs alike. The wind was strong on Sunday as well, and the previous 18 pros before Scheffler and Lee got there played it in a combined six over. A third of them found the water. Scheffler could see balls splash as the 16th was played and hear the crowd’s reaction. It was only 133 yards, but it was Scheffler’s last real test.

He has passed. Scheffler safely found the middle of the green and used the slope to dribble the ball to 2.50 meters. Par. On 18, the hard par 4 finisher, Scheffler’s drive went so far to the right – there’s water on the left so the mistake is on the right – he chuckled as the ball nestled into the rough. He holed, tapped it onto the green and of course rolled into 20 feet to save par. He now joins Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus as the only one to hold both Players and Masters titles at the same time.

It’s Scheffler’s sixth career PGA Tour win, and all of them have come in the past two seasons between February and April. There are still a few weeks and maybe one or two starts for Scheffler before the first major of the season comes. The defending Masters champion is heating up and Augusta National is looming.

Josh Berhow

Golf.com Editor

Josh Berhow is the senior editor at GOLF.com. A native of Minnesota, he graduated with a degree in journalism from Minnesota State University in Mankato. You can reach him at joshua_berhow@golf.com.