Scottie Scheffler creates history with Players Championship win
Scottie Scheffler becomes the first player to successfully defend The Players Championship.
Scottie Scheffler has become the first player to successfully defend The Players Championship following a stunning final round at famed TPC Sawgrass.
Scheffler, 27, fired a flawless final-round 8-under 64 to overturn a five-stroke deficit at the start of the day into a narrow one-stroke win on 20-under par.
The World No.1 becomes the first player in the 50-year history of The Players Championship to successfully defend the PGA Tour's flagship event.
Scheffler's 20-under par total marks the second lowest in Players Championship history with the record still set by now LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman, who won the tournament on 24-under par in 1994.
Incredibly, Scheffler played the last 31 holes of The Players Championship without dropping a single stroke.
That was despite suffering a neck injury heading into the third round.
Scheffler played with tape on his neck in the final round but appeared unfazed by his latest injury setback as he saw out consecutive wins on the PGA Tour.
"I'm a pretty competitive guy and I did not want to give up in the tournament, I did all I could yesterday to hang around until it got better, but my neck felt really good today, I got it massaged out and I'm very thankful," said Scheffler.
He added: "It's tough enough to win one Players and it's tough to do it back to back so I'm just very thankful."
The win marks Scheffler's eighth on the PGA Tour, and vaults him even further clear of Rory McIlroy at the top of world order.
Scheffler scoops a record Players first prize of $4.5m.
Scottie Scheffler creates history at The Players Championship
Five shots behind Xander Schauffele at the start of the final round, Scheffler burst out the blocks when holing out his second shot for eagle at the par-4 4th.
Scheffler then followed that up with a birdie at the par-4 5th to pull within three shots of the lead.
SCHEFFFFF! pic.twitter.com/A3iOOoqBNi
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 17, 2024
Scheffler then drained four birdies in the space of five holes from the 8th to get within a shot of Schauffele's lead.
But back-to-back bogeys from Schauffele at 14 and 15 soon saw Scheffler move ahead by the time he got up and down from sand for birdie at the par-5 16th.
Scheffler then kept his composure to make pars on the final two holes to post the clubhouse target of 20-under par.
The greenside bunker is not a problem for the defending champ.
Scottie Scheffler's birdie at 16 moves him back into a share of the lead @THEPLAYERS. pic.twitter.com/aEi7onLZPE
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 17, 2024
Wyndham Clark looked to have fallen out of contention for the title when making bogey at the 14th but the reigning US Open champion surged late in the final group with birdies at 16 and 17 to move within one stroke of Scheffler heading up the 18th.
Brian Harman also found himself in the mix heading down the last but the reigning Open champion could not make the required birdie down 18.
- Wyndham Clark accused of cheating by golf fans at The Players
- Golf fans disgusted by Brian Harman's actions at Sawgrass
Clark and Schauffele then had their chances of forcing a playoff with Scheffler.
Schauffele could not convert his birdie from long range, leaving the door open for Clark who had a putt from 15 feet.
Clark looked to have buried his birdie putt but the ball incredibly horseshoed out.
WATCH CLARK'S HEARTBREAK AT 18 HERE
One ... shot ... short ...
Heartbreak for Wyndham Clark on the 72nd hole @THEPLAYERS. pic.twitter.com/6d1Qa3elOa
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 17, 2024
Harman (68), Clark (69) Schauffele (70) all finished in a tie for second on 19-under par.
England's Matt Fitzpatrick brilliantly birdied the final four holes to pick up a solo fourth on 16-under par.
Elsewhere, McIlroy finished T19 on 9-under.
The Players Championship Final Leaderboard
-20 S Scheffler (US)
-19 X Schauffele, W Clark, B Harman (US)
-16 M Fitzpatrick (Eng)
What did you make of Scheffler's performance at Sawgrass? Is he a banker for The Masters next month? Share your thoughts and comments over on the GolfMagic social media channels.
