What at first looked like a walkaway turned into a dogfight.
But with a back nine surge, Scottie Scheffler held off a charge by Spain’s Jon Rahm and won his first PGA Championship and his third major golf championship overall.
Scheffler, who had lost a five-shot lead early on in a span of four holes, played a textbook back nine, birdieing both par 5s and the reachable par-4 14th to finish at 11-under-par 273, five shots clear of a trio of fellow Americans Bryson DeChambeau, Davis Riley and Harris English. Rahm, who powered into a tie for the lead after birdies at Nos. 8, 10 and 11, played the Green Mile in five strokes over par to fade late and finish in a tie for eighth at 4 under.
Rory McIlroy made pre-tournament jests that Quail Hollow, site of the 2025 PGA Championship was Rory McIlroy Country Club, but the week looked to be the Scottie Scheffler Invitational. Scheffler, who had not previously played a stroke-play tournament at Quail Hollow, took command of the tournament on Saturday with a blistering 65 that included a 5-under stretch to close out the final five holes: eagle, birdie, par, birdie, birdie. In the span of an hour, he turned a one-shot deficit into a four-shot lead going into Sunday.
Scheffler built that lead with near flawless golf from tee to green. He was first in the field on Moving Day in both Strokes Gained Off the Tee and Strokes Gained Approach. And that was on a blustery day that featured a long weather delay and pairings of twosomes changed to threesomes going off both tees. Scottie was so dialed in practicing, he didn’t even know he had a third playing partner (who turned out to be Si Woo Kim, for those of you scoring at home).
Scheffler's third-round 65 gave him a three-shot lead over Sweden’s Alex Noren, but even more importantly five shots over Rahm and six over DeChambeau. And 37 of the last 40 winners of the PGA were no less than four shots back before they started.
Tiger Woods said at Torrey that he always looked for that stretch of about nine holes where he would catch fire at a major and run away from everyone. He did that on Saturday in 2008 to surge into contention after spending the first two-and-a-half rounds in the nether reaches of the leaderboard. But two 60-foot putts and a pitch in that found the hole by accident led to a 5-under, back-nine 30 and the lead. He eventually won in an epic 19-hole playoff against Rocco Mediate.
The world No. 1 built up enough of a lead over his most serious contenders with that finishing Saturday flourish that he was able to survive the early hiccups in his round.
Scheffler opened the day with a sloppy bogey at the first, but, in what was a theme throughout the week, he immediately bounced back with a birdie at two. In fact, that may be the most interesting and telling stat of the week. The field average this week for making a birdie following a bogey was 17 percent. Scheffler’s bounce-back-birdie percentage was 62 percent. He did it again on 10, birdieing the par 5 after a bogey at nine.
Scheffler was able to survive a wild front nine where he hit just two out of seven fairways. He turned it around on the inward nine after splitting the fairway at Nos. 10 and 11, calming the nerves and settling the swing.
Holes 14 and 15 proved the difference in the end. Rahm was still trailing by only one shot entering the easy stretch of the back nine, yet he failed to cash in on great shots. At 14 he failed to get up-and-down after driving into the greenside bunker. Then at 15 he failed to get up and down from just over the green.
“It's a couple of things. If there's ever somebody that's sitting right here that tells you nerves weren't a part of it, they're clearly lying. It's the main thing we do as a professional sport; it's controlling what goes through your mind,” Rahm explained earnestly, pointing out that although nerves are always part of the game, he actually enjoyed the chase and most of his round.
“I think it's linked to some of the things I've been working on in the swing. It was the trend today, right. The tee shot on 3, 5, 7 and then 16. They are not bad swings. It's just a ball that starts left, and it's not quite cutting."
A short time later, Scheffler made birdie from a similar spot after another birdie at 14 following him missing the green by a few yards off the tee.
“I'm just really proud of the way I fought this week. I was battling my swing the first couple days. I didn't have as good a prep week as I wanted to. It was a battle out there,” he admitted candidly. “Teddy [Scott, his caddie] did a good job of keeping me in it, and Randy [Smith, his coach] helped me figure out things on my swing...It was a real team effort this week. I'm proud of the whole squad. Looking forward to celebrating this one.”
So what a difference a year makes! From jail to Quail for Scheffler -- the back of a squad car to the winner’s circle and the Wanamaker Trophy. Scheffler is now halfway towards the career Grand Slam, and the two missing legs are next on the calendar.
How historic was this week overall? We’ll have to wait and see whether this was a stepping stone to further immortality for Scheffler, but after running away with Player of the Year last year and a game rounding into shape for the meat of the golf season, Scheffler may be rewriting the history books before our eyes, and doing it with a grace and class that makes all golf look good too.
