Scottie Scheffler turned on the type of masterclass expected of a world number one, as he outclassed all-comers in the final round of The Players at TPC Sawgrass to scoop the €4.2 million winner’s cheque and, in so doing, also returned to the top of the world rankings.
The 26-year-old American cruised to the title, his second win of the year on the PGA Tour after also collecting the Phoenix Open last month, with a closing round of three under par to leave him 17 under overall. It gave Scheffler a sixth win on the PGA Tour in 13 months.
A chip-in birdie on the eighth hole ignited a hot streak that left him running away from everyone, as that hole-out was the catalyst for a run of five straight birdies that moved Scheffler into a clear lead which ultimately saw him finish five shots clear of runner-up Tyrrell Hatton, the Englishman producing a brilliant back nine of 29 in a final round 65 which saw him birdie the final five holes.
For Shane Lowry, who survived on the cutline, a solid weekend’s play featuring rounds of 68 and 70 saw him move up the leader board to finish in tied-35th on four-under-par 284: “The last three days are as good of golf as I can play and I just need to find something on the greens over the next couple of weeks. Thursday (in the first round) was a little bit of a kick in the backside really. You can never get complacent in this game ... I just have to look at the positives and the way I drove the ball and hit the ball over the last three rounds is pretty nice.”
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Lowry was playing for a fifth straight week on the PGA Tour and will take a break before resuming at the WGC-Dell Match Play in a fortnight’s time while he also has his eyes on the upcoming Masters at Augusta National:
“I’m disappointed how I putted. I’ve been working so hard on it, and it’s just not coming in. I need to just keep my chin up and keep going, keep working, keep grinding away, and hopefully it’ll come in about a month’s time.
“I’ll go to the Match Play, obviously I want to do well in that tournament because it’s a big event, but I want to just feel comfortable in my game. I might play well and get beat out there; that’s the type of event it is. So I want to go there and play well, come out with some confidence going into my week before Augusta, and kind of be at home the week before to just sharpen my game. It’s more just putting the hours and the time in as opposed to trying to work on anything specific,” added Lowry.
Hatton, meanwhile, continued his rich vein of form (2nd-4th-40th-6th in his last four outings on tour) and collected €2.5 million for his solo runner-up finish which moved him from 69th to 26th in the FedEx Cup standings: ”
“Every year we’re all trying to earn as many points as we can. This year’s no different. I mean, this is the sixth counting FedEx event of the season. So I’m playing catch-up to a lot of guys that have played quite a bit of golf already. Obviously some of the European lads are in the same boat where play DP World stuff at the back end of the calendar year and we miss some events over in the States. I’m just out here trying to earn as many points as I can and try and set myself up nicely for next year.”
