Scores could be deceiving
Scheffler joined Seve Ballesteros as the only golfers in the past 100 years to win each of his first three majors by more than three strokes.
But it wasn’t an easy round for world’s best.
Scheffler came into the fourth and final round with a three-stroke lead but after three bogeys in the front nine, his lead quickly disappeared.
LIV Golf star Jon Rahm surged ahead of him, with the Spaniard looking to win his third major.
However, the 2021 US Open and 2023 Masters winner, completely faltered in the back nine especially on Quail Hollow’s infamous Green Mile where he bogeyed once and double-bogeyed twice to fall to 2-over par on the day and a tie for 8th place.
As Rahm fell, Scheffler arose past his early struggles, sinking back-to-back birdies on holes 14 and 15 to reclaim the lead and never looked back.
The 30-year-old, former Arizona State Sun Devil Rahm, said this was a position he has never been in when asked how he would “heal” from this.
“I think it’s the first time I’ve been in position to win a major that close and haven’t done it. The only times I think I’ve been in the lead in a major on a Sunday, I’ve been able to close it out, and this is a very different situation,” Rahm told reporters after the round.
“So I don’t know exactly. But if it’s ever a time, that’s what family’s for is the best. Luckily I’m going to get home maybe on time to get the kids to bed or not, I’m not sure. To them, whatever I did today, win or lose, they don’t care. So that’s always a good perspective. … But I just need to get over it, get over myself. It’s not the end of the world. 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.”
What a difference a year makes
Following the win Sunday, Scheffler quipped he had a few “jokes” that he would keep to himself about his experience last year with the arrest.
Despite being pressured to say them, Scheffler said it was “not a good idea” but expanded on why it was “sweet” to be sitting with the trophy a year later.
“Last year sometimes, it still doesn’t almost feel real. It really doesn’t. It’s just one of those deals that I really don’t know how to describe it. But I can tell you it’s very sweet sitting here with the trophy this year,” Scheffler added.
Last year, Scheffler was arrested trying to drive around the scene of a fatal crash ahead of his tee time at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky.
He had been charged with felony second-degree assault on a police officer and the lesser charges of third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding signals from officers directing traffic, Jefferson County court records showed. The charges were later dismissed.
In what Scheffler called a “severe miscommunication in a chaotic situation,” adding he held “no ill will” toward the detective who arrested him, he ultimately finished eight shots behind the winner, Xander Schauffele, for a share of eighth place.
Scheffler can begin his quest for a fourth career major win next month at the US Open at the Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pennsylvania.