American Scottie Scheffler delivered a ‘golfing masterclass’ in the final round of the Players Championship to win by a remarkable five shots, claiming an estimated $4.5m USD ($6.8m AUD) in prize money as well as the world number one ranking.
Scheffler carded a three-under par 69 in the final round in a nerveless display to finish 17-under overall, five shots ahead of Englishman Tyrrell Hatton who surged into second earlier in the day with a brilliant seven-under 65.
Scheffler began the day at TPC Sawgrass with a two-shot lead over Australia’s Min Woo Lee. An early birdie for the Australian and a bogey on the third for Scheffler saw them tied in the lead, before the Australian fell apart in dramatic fashion – and the American exploded.
The 2022 Masters champion birdied five straight holes from the eighth beginning with a brilliant chip-in from the bunker-side rough.
His stunning five-hole run took him to four-under for the round and 18-under overall – the best overall score since Greg Norman in 1994.
The American gave a shot back with a bogey on 14, but remained composed and saw out the victory with a 21-foot putt on the 18th.
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Aussie cops all-time meltdown at Players Champs – and it cost him more than just $3m
Scheffler fought back tears as he celebrated the victory with his family – including 88-year-old grandmother Mary, who walked every single hole of the tournament to watch the 26-year-old’s milestone win.
“I don’t know what to say,” Scheffler said. “It’s pretty special.”
“It was so challenging out there,” he said of increasingly tricky conditions in the final round, adding he: “just took it as a battle between me and the golf course” rather than focusing on the leaderboard.
But he couldn’t help but enjoy the five-birdie blitz that carried him to victory, saying with a smile and a laugh: “That was nice!”
Australian Min Woo Lee started the round in second place, but suffered a torrid final round 76 to slump to sixth, level with fellow Aussie Cameron Davis (74).
LEE FALLS APART
Australian Min Woo Lee hasn’t won a PGA Tour event in 23 attempts – nor even earned a top-10 finish – and only snuck into the Players field when a final-round charge at a recent tournament lifted him into 50th place in the world golf rankings.
But three brilliant rounds saw him start the final round in second place at 10-under, and a birdie on the opening hole hinted at a shock title charge.
The 24-year-old briefly shared the lead with Scheffler when the American bogeyed the third hole – but the Aussie watched his title hopes soon go up in smoke.
The Australian found the rough off the tee on the 393-yard par-four fourth, blocking him from laying up with his second shot. Then he found the water with his third shot as ended up carding a triple-bogey seven to fall three shots off the pace.
‘Everything went wrong there!’ | 02:05
He was disgusted with his approach shot on the seventh, letting out an exasperated “oh my god!”
But he somehow recovered to snare his second birdie of the day with a clutch 28-foot putt to close to two shots behind Scheffler.
Lee gave back another shot the following hole after finding the bunker, before watching on as Scheffler exploded in his five-hole birdie streak.
Meanwhile the Australian copped a double-bogey on the 11th hole. He found the trees off the tee and couldn’t escape the pines with his second shot. His third shot only found a bunker, and he ended up with a seven on the par-five.
A bogey on the 14th saw him fall to five-over for the round and stuck in a tie for 13th, ten shots off Scheffler. He made a couple of late birdies to finish to sixth.
He wasn’t the only contender to make costly mistakes to fall out of contention. As veteran TV analyst Paul Azinger said: “There’s trainwrecks everywhere.”
Fellow Australian Cameron Davis, who began the day in third place, also had a tough final round, carding a two-over 74 to finish tied with Lee for sixth place.
28-year-old Davis, who missed five consecutive cuts in the lead-up to the tournament, started his final round poorly with bogeys on the third and fifth. He turned things around with birdies on the seventh, eighth, and 12th holes to get his round back on track, before a bogey on 14 moved him back to even for the round. His tee shot found the water on the notorious Island Green 17th as he carded a double bogey and finished up with a 74.
HATTON’S ALL-TIME BACK NINE
Second-placed Hatton’s stunning back-nine charge saw him card a seven-under 65 to finish the tournament 12-under.
Hatton went birdie-bogey on eight and nine to make the turn on par, before delivering the greatest back-nine in Players Championship final round history, carding seven birdies including on the final five holes in a row.
It was capped off on the 18th by a remarkable 201-yard escape from the pine straw after a wayward drive, before draining a 12-yard putt for birdie.
ANOTHER ACE ON ISLAND GREEN
Meanwhile, Alex Smalley struck an ace on the famous Island Green – the third hole-in-one on the famed 17th hole of the weekend. No other tournament had even seen two aces on the 17th, and in 40 years of history at the Players Championship there were only 10 in total.
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