Scottie Scheffler cruised to victory in the WM Phoenix Open for his fifth victory on the PGA Tour in the past year, including last year's open.
Scheffler was even par on the par 5’s for the first three rounds, doing most of his damage on the par 4s, where he led the field with a 12-under total. But in the final round he man-handled the par 5s, sinking a 10-foot birdie putt at the third. Taylor caught Scheffler with a birdie at No. 10, knocking his approach to 3 feet, but Scheffler took control of the tournament for good by hitting driver and an 8-iron to 22 feet at the par-5 13th and rolling in the eagle putt.
Scheffler overcame an erratic driver – he didn’t hit his first fairway until the eighth hole – with pinpoint irons and a putter that was more friend than foe. He ranked first in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green, SG: Approach-the-Green and scrambling . A year ago, Scheffler rallied from two strokes behind to win his maiden title. This time, it looked as if he would need the two-stroke cushion he built going into the final round. Scheffler saved par with his clutch par putt at 16 and moments later Taylor missed. Scheffler’s lead grew to two and he tacked on a birdie at 17 for good measure.
In the 87-year history of the tournament, Scheffler became the seventh player to successfully defend his title, joining the likes of Ben Hogan, Jimmy Demaret, Lloyd Mangrum, Arnold Palmer, Johnny Miller, all of whom are in the World Golf Hall of Fame, and most recently Hideki Matsuyama in 2017. Rahm, who had a chance to reclaim World No. 1 had he won, shot 67 and finished third, five strokes back. Reigning PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas closed in 65, the 65Fowler, the 2019 WM Phoenix Open champion, made a hole-in-one at the 216-yard par-3 seventh hole, but followed it with back-to-back bogeys and shot 70 to finish T-10.
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