MIAMI – Scottie Scheffler said he has become more comfortable with his game over the past year and is not overthinking things or striving for perfection, after he delivered a dominant victory at the Players Championship on Sunday.
The Masters champion, who said in 2022 he “cried like a baby” before the final round at Augusta National, was a picture of calm at TPC Sawgrass as he collected the PGA Tour’s biggest winner’s cheque of US$4.5 million (S$6.1 million) and regained the world No. 1 ranking with his five-shot victory.
“I’m trying to get a little bit better at a time, not overthink things and fortunately be able to see some good results and enjoy some wins,” he said.
This was his sixth win in the last 13 months ahead of his Masters defence from April 6 to 9.
“I’m just comfortable with where my game is,” Scheffler, 26, said.
“I feel like I’m improving. I’m definitely learning more and more, the more you can get into contention and be in the moments... I guess the experience helps.
“I had some times throughout the week where I didn’t feel like I was swinging my best or playing at 100 per cent, and then I would just kind of wait and pick my moments.
“Before Phoenix (in 2022) I had this idea that I had to play perfect on Sundays and hit nothing but good shots, and that’s not necessarily how golf is played. The most valuable thing is knowing what you feel like and being able to prepare for it.”
At the Tour Championship last August, Scheffler squandered a six-shot lead in the final round and lost to Rory McIlroy by one stroke.
“I was mentally and physically drained, emotionally drained,” Scheffler said. “But the hard times make the good times that much sweeter.
“Going into the Masters, it’s going to be a fun week.”
He becomes just the third player, along with Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods, to hold both the Masters and Players Championship titles at the same time.
It was another clinical effort from the unflappable American, who carded a final-round three-under 69 on a gusty afternoon in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida for a commanding five-shot win over Briton Tyrrell Hatton, who closed with a 65.
Hatton ended on 12-under 276, with Norway’s Viktor Hovland (68) and American Tom Hoge (70) tied for third, a further two strokes back.
Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama shot a 68 to finish fifth at nine under, with his fine round undone by a double-bogey on the par-four 14th where he got in trouble in the rough.
Scheffler, who needed to finish in a tie for fifth or better to reclaim the No. 1 spot from Jon Rahm, started the day two clear at the top of the leaderboard but got his round off to a slow start by going one over after seven holes.
But he stepped on the gas through the turn by carding five consecutive birdies from the eighth to pull away from the field, opening up a six-shot advantage on Hatton, who was bidding to become the first Englishman to win golf’s unofficial fifth Major.
Scheffler took his second bogey of the day at the 14th but steered clear of trouble the rest of the way home, including at the course’s infamous par-three 17th island green.
Like Scheffler, Hatton could not get much going on his first nine and reached the turn at even par.
But the 31-year-old caught fire after that and carded seven birdies, including five straight from the 14th, to bring his round to a spectacular end.
“Considering where I was at the start of the back nine, I was probably tied 34th or something like that, so if you had said that you would finish second in the tournament or tied second and you don’t have to play the back nine, I think you would take that,” he said.
Australia’s Min Woo Lee, two strokes behind Scheffler at the start of play, had three bogeys, a double-bogey and a triple-bogey for a 76 to end tied-sixth on 280.
“It happened really quick,” he said. “It’s one of those things where it’s Sunday and you just make a couple bad decisions and it all kind of falls down.” REUTERS, AFP
