Scottie Scheffler turned in a solid final-round performance at the TPC Sawgrass to win The Players Championship on Sunday in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Scheffler shot a 3-under-par 69 in the fourth round for a 72-hole aggregate of 17-under 271. The win gave the American USD4.5 million and 600 FedEx Cup points. This also catapulted him to World No1 for the second time this year. It was Scheffler’s sixth title in his last 27 starts in the PGA Tour, including The Masters. The 26-year-old dropped five straight birdies in the middle of the round and built a six-shot lead. He ended up winning the tournament by five shots, which made sports betting sites stunned with the way he ran over the opposition.
Scottie Scheffler Regains World No1 Ranking: Hatton 2nd, Lee Loses Steam
Tyrrell Hatton finished second at 12-under-par 276 after carding a 7-under 65. He concluded his round with five straight birdies and outshot Viktor Hovland (68) and Tom Hoge (70) by two shots. Hatton won USD2.725 million which is just over a USD1 million more than his victory in 2020. Hideki Matsuyama shot a 4-under 68 for a 9-under 279 total. Min Woo Lee was in the joint lead in the fourth round but struggled down the stretch and settled for a 76. He finished at 8-under 280 and was tied for sixth with Max Homa (69), Justin Suh (70), Justin Rose (71), David Lingmerth (72), Sungjae Im (72) and Cam Davis (74).
Seizing the Opportunity
Scheffler seized the opportunity to reclaim the world number one ranking after Jon Rahm withdrew after the first round. Another player in contention for the top seed, Rory McIlroy, missed the cut after shooting rounds of 76 and 73. The American was spot on from the start of the tournament, opening with a 68. He followed that up with a 69. He zoomed to the leaderboard with a 65 in the third round and was in cruise control in the fourth round with a 69. Scheffler was the only golfer in the tournament to card 60s in all rounds and won for the sixth time in the last 13 months, all of them against some of the strongest fields in golf.
Early Favorite for The Masters
The victory solidified Scheffler as the favorite to win The Masters for the second straight year. Last year, he dominated the field to win his first “Green Jacket.” With his consistent play, the American is again the top choice to win the first major of the year, as he is expected to run away the field and end up securing the rare Masters back-to-back, experts focusing on 2022-23 US PGA picks predict.
