Scottie Scheffler revealed he could finally relax during his PGA Championship win when he found Quail Hollow’s treacherous 17th green, having already been aware that Jon Rahm’s challenge had collapsed.
Scheffler secured the third major title of his career – and first away from Augusta National – here at Quail Hollow on Sunday night, winning by a comfortable five shots.
But his victory was far from routine and at one stage the American was level with Rahm after three bogeys on the front nine.
However, Scheffler rallied with three birdies on the back which coincided with Rahm going bogey, double bogey, double bogey on the final three holes of his round.
Scheffler, who shared an emotional embrace with wife Meredith and their son Bennett on the 18th green, revealed afterwards that he could finally relax once his tee shot on 17 had found dry land.
He said: ‘I didn’t really relax until I got the ball over the water on 17. I felt like after that, I could kind of limp on 18 with the lead that I had.
Scottie Scheffler celebrates with his wife Meredith and their son Bennett on Sunday
Scheffler won the PGA Championship by five shots, securing the third major title of his career
‘With this closing stretch, you can never be complacent with your game. I had saw that Jon and I were tied. I was playing No. 10, maybe. I think he birdied 10 and 11. I think he was at 9-under. Is that right? Then I was able to birdie 10, which gave me a one-shot lead at the time.
‘But the leaderboards from 10 through basically 14, didn’t really show me what I was hoping they would show me. They were kind of – like at Augusta, the leaderboard is kind of always up there. These leaderboards were changing, like, to different groups.
‘I’m looking at the leaderboard, like ‘come on guys, show me what’s going on at the top’. If people want to know who’s in 30th, look at your phone. I need to know what’s going on at the top of the leaderboard.
‘So I didn’t really see much on those holes. I just prepared for Jon to go out and have a back nine. He’s a great player and a great champion, and he does a really good job of stepping up in the big moments. I was fully expecting him to have a great back nine as well.
‘I did my best to keep executing shots and stay in my little bubble. When I was walking down 15, I had just birdied 14 to get to 11-under, and I saw him in the bunker right on 16, and he didn’t get it up-and-down.
‘So the conversation I had with myself, like if he was at 9 – I think I saw a leaderboard on 13 green. That’s what it was. Finally I saw one on 13 green. He was at 9. I was at 10. And he was playing 15. The best he could be was bogey there, because I didn’t hear crazy roars. If I birdie here, it’s going to go a long way.
‘Then as I was walking down 16, I saw that he was only at maybe eight-under and I was at 12-under. So in my head, I told myself, I can’t control what these other guys do; if I make three pars, the golf tournament’s mine, and that’s what I was focused on.’
Jon Rahm was Scheffler’s nearest challenger but fell away with a brutal final three holes
Rahm ended up seven shots behind, but the two-time major champion was the only serious threat. His chances began to fade when he failed to birdie the 14th and 15th holes, the two easiest holes on the back nine and the last good scoring chances.
A bogey on the 16th hole came he went from rough to bunker. Having to take on a dangerous pin at the par-3 17th, it bounded over the sunbaked green into the water for double bogey. And his last tee shot went left off the grassy bank and into the stream for another double bogey.
‘Yeah, the last three holes, it´s a tough pill to swallow right now,’ said the Spaniard, his first time seriously contending in a major since he left for the Saudi riches of LIV Golf two years ago.
‘I´ll get over it. I´ll move on,’ Rahm said. ‘Again, there´s a lot more positive than negative to think about this week. I´m really happy I put myself in position and hopefully learn from this and give it another go in the US Open.’
