American Scottie Scheffler won The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass by five strokes on Sunday to return to number one in the world rankings.
Scheffler ran away with the US PGA Tour showdown at Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, after making five straight birdies between the eighth and 12th holes while his closest rival, Australian Min Woo Lee, imploded.
The defending Masters champion will replace Spain’s Jon Rahm atop the rankings on Monday. Rahm withdrew from the event due to illness.
The 26-year-old from New Jersey won four events on tour last year, including at Augusta and now has two more already this season, having won in Phoenix last month.
“I’m just trying to get a little bit better at a time, not overthink things and fortunately to be able to see some good results and enjoy some wins, and I’m very thankful,” he said before greeting his watching family.
The wind might have become a factor in a closer battle, but by the time he reached the final testing holes, Scheffler had already wrapped things up.
“It was a lot of fun: a long, tough day. I knew the conditions were going to get hard late, and I did a really good job of staying patient, not trying to force things, and then I got hot kind of in the middle of the round and tried to put things away as quickly as I could,” he said.
Scheffler began the day with a two-stroke lead over Lee, who immediately reduced the deficit with a birdie on the opening hole.
When Scheffler bogeyed the third, the pair were in a tie for the lead, but it was soon to change dramatically when Lee had a nightmare on the par-4 fourth hole, where he made a triple bogey.
Lee found the rough off the tee and took his medicine, chipping out back onto the fairway, but that prudent decision was followed by his approach shot ending in the water.
A double bogey on the 11th, where he got in trouble in the trees, saw Lee fall totally out of contention, and by then, Scheffler was in his groove and moving away from the field.
“It happened quick,” said the Australian.
“It’s one of those things where it’s Sunday, and you just make a couple of bad decisions, and it all falls.
“Making a seven there was gut-wrenching after I started well,” he added.
“But Scottie played well; it was just a battle from then. I tried to get it back, but I didn’t have my approach game,” he added.
It was a victory procession for Scheffler over the final holes, but he crowned his victory with a superb 21-foot putt on the 18th before soaking up the applause.
England’s Tyrrell Hatton finished second after a sensational close with five straight birdies to complete the back nine in 29, the lowest score on the back section in a final round.
Hatton ended on 12-under par after his 65 with Norway’s Viktor Hovland and American Tom Hoge tied for third, a further two strokes back.
“It was just a pretty mad two and a half hours in the end, from standing on the tenth tee,” said Hatton, who birdied seven of his last nine holes.
Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama shot a four-under 68 to finish fifth, 9-under for the week, with his fine round undone by a double bogey on the 14th, where he got in trouble in the rough.
Australia’s Cam Davis was third on the leaderboard overnight but had to settle for T6 after shooting 74.
World number three Rory McIlroy had missed the cut. (AFP)
