World number one Scottie Scheffler of the US with his Wanamaker Trophy after winning the PGA Championship for the first time in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Sunday. Image courtesy pgachampionship.com.
By Rahul Banerji
World number one Scottie Scheffler was tested to the fullest but displayed great resilience to win the 107th PGA Championship at Quail Hollow on Sunday.
Opening the final day leading by three strokes, three bogies on his outward sent Scheffler (69-68-65-71) into a tie alongside Spain’s Jon Rahm but a brilliant rally over the final nine holes sealed the win.
The two-time Masters winner closed with a level par 71 in Charlotte, North Carolina, to eventually win his first Wanamaker Trophy by a comfortable five-stroke margin on 11 under par 273 as Rahm’s challenge imploded on the home stretch.
Sharing second place on 6 under 278 was an all-American trio – Bryson DeChambeau (71-68-69-70), Harris English (72-70-71-65) and Davis Riley (71-68-67-72) – while the unfortunate Rahm ended in a tie for eighth place on 4 under 280 alongside fellow LIV Golf star Joaquin Neimann.
Venezuela’s Jhonattan Vegas, the star of the first two days, brought in his best-ever finish at the majors with a share of fifth place on 5 under 279.
Sunday’s result gave Scheffler a 15th title and a third major in just six years on the PGA Tour. Sunday’s five-shot margin was the widest at the PGA Championship in the last 13 years after Rory McIlroy who won by eight shots on 2012.
Scheffler also became the first since Seve Ballesteros to win his first three majors by three shots or more.
“Finishing off a major championship is always difficult, and I did a good job of staying patient on the front nine,” said Scheffler later.
“I didn’t have my best stuff, but I kept myself in it, and I stepped up on the back nine and had a really good nine holes. That’s about it.”
Fresh wound
Two-time major champion Rahm dropped five shots over Quail Hollow’s infamous Green Mile with a bogey and two doubles and said later, “Pretty fresh wound right now.
“It’s not like I’m a doctor or a first responder, where somebody if they have a bad day, truly bad things happen. I’ll get over it. I’ll move on. Again, there’s a lot more positive than negative to think about this week.”
“Am I embarrassed a little bit about how I finished today? Yeah. But I just need to get over it, get over myself. It’s not the end of the world,” the Spaniard said.
Added US Open champion DeChambeau, runner-up last year as well, “I felt like I had the game to win this week, and the golf course suited me pretty well; missed a few putts coming down the stretch and got a little unlucky in this great game of golf.
“It was a good fight, good battle, take a lot from it. It’s just burning a bigger fire in my belly.”
Last Month’s Masters winner McIlroy, who made the cut on the line carded a 1 over 72 to share 47th place and left the venue without meeting the media for a fourth straight day in Charlotte, while defending champion Xander Schauffele ended tied for 28th.
Also read: Vegas stays ahead at Quail Hollow as Scheffler makes his move
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