Scottie Scheffler hits his tee shot on Monday on the 16th hole at Harbour Town Golf Links.
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Scottie Scheffler wins.
Of course he would. In other news, the sky is blue, and the Masters green jacket is green. At this point, the sentence above is just copy and paste, and type in the tournament name, which this week is the RBC Heritage. The latest win follows last week’s victory at the Masters, which makes him the first player to win those two since Bernhard Langer did in 1985. The latest win is also his fourth in five tournaments, following W’s at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the Players Championship and the Masters, with his only non-victory in that stretch coming at the Houston Open — where he tied for second. The latest win saw him shoot his 39th-straight round of par or better, which trails only Tiger Woods on the PGA Tour.
His run has been ridiculous.
It’s here, then, where Justin Thomas would like to take a stab at the how. As in how is he lapping the field? How is he dunking on everyone? How does it appear he’s playing golf while everyone else looks like their ball is getting slapped by the clown’s mouth? Is it something more than drivers and irons, chips and putts?
JT had a thought on that. A word actually. On Saturday, as he sat in on CBS’ third-round coverage, he was asked for a Scheffler assessment.
Thomas said he was boring.
Beautifully so. Impressively so.
Here’s his full quote:
“It’s insanely impressive. Obviously it doesn’t need to be said. But I think the thing to me that I think is the most impressive, he does — in the nicest way possible, he plays very boring golf. Everything he does is very in front of you. You know, he doesn’t hit that crazy, the flop shot, these huge hooks or slices, mostly because he hits it in the center of pretty much every fairway and every green. But he just plots his way around so, so well.
“But what I’m most impressed with is how he continues to play this well with all the expectations on him. I think that’s the hardest part, in my personal opinion. Once you get to that point is maintaining it. You know, it’s something I’ve struggled with, is when you have expectations on you and everybody expects you to play well, how do you handle it, and he’s somehow continued to play better. His demeanor and work ethic and everything is extremely impressive and I know I’ve been inspired watching him. I don’t want to lose to anybody, but to battle with and against the No. 1 player in the world is impressive.”
This Scheffler genius was as advertised on Sunday, perhaps strikingly so in contrast to others. He started the RBC final round up one. After two holes, he was up three. On the 548-yard, par-5 2nd at Harbour Town Golf Links, after hitting just over the green with his second shot, he chipped in with his third, his ball dodging a greenside bunker before curling in right to left. He handed his club back to caddie Ted Scott. He grinned. He wasn’t done.
But others soon were. Wyndham Clark made a move. Patrick Rodgers, too. They both pulled within a shot, then they both undid themselves. On the 442-yard, par-4 12th, Clark tried to sneak his second shot through a collection of trees — only for his ball to catch one and ricochet right and out of bounds. Double bogey. Minutes later, on the 463-yard, par-4 8th, Rodgers hit his tee shot into water left. Double bogey. Scheffler’s lead was four, and it eventually grew to five.
From there, only rain proved annoying, as storms delayed play for about two-and-a-half hours on Sunday, before darkness forced a Monday finish. The hour gap between stops did produce two of Scheffler’s finest shots, after one of his worst. On the 581-yard, par-5 15th, after his ball appeared to catch mud off the tee, he hit his second shot into the water on the left — but he followed with a short iron to 11 feet, seconds before the horn sounded again. He then elected to finish the hole, dropped the putt for par and fist-pumped.
And on Monday morning, after going par, par, bogey over his final three holes, Scheffler won. He shot a final-round 68, and his 19-under total was three shots better than Sahith Theegala, and four shots better than Clark and Patrick Cantlay.
The question now is, when will he lose?
He’ll take a break now. His first child is due soon. Then it’s the PGA Championship in May at Valhalla in Kentucky. That’ll be in play for him. Then it’s the U.S. Open in June at Pinehurst No. 2 in North Carolina. That’ll be in play for him. Then it’s the Open Championship in July at Royal Troon in Scotland. That’ll be in play for him.
Copy and paste.
Boring.
Beautifully so. Impressively so.
Dominatingly so.
The takeaway
Who stops Scheffler? Maybe only Scheffler.
The leaderboard breakdown
— Scottie Scheffler starts the final round with a one-shot lead over Sepp Straka, and a two-shot lead over Collin Morikawa, and a three-shot lead over Sahith Theegala, Patrick Rodgers and Ludvig Aberg. Scheffler is at 16-under, Straka is at 15-under, Morikawa is at 14-under, and Theegala, Rodgers and Aberg are at 13-under.
— When Scheffler tees off, the leaderboard reads this way: Scheffler is at 16-under, Straka is at 15-under, Rodgers, Morikawa, J.T. Poston and Wyndham Clark are at 14-under, and Aberg, Chris Kirk, Seamus Power and Patrick Cantlay are at 13-under.
— Scheffler chips in for eagle on the 548-yard, par-5 2nd, and his lead grows to three. He’s at 18-under, Clark, Poston, Rodgers, Morikawa and Straka are at 15-under, and Kirk, Cantlay and Tom Hoge are at 13-under.
— Clark, behind five birdies and an eagle, shoots a front-nine 29. He then birdies the 438-yard, par-4 11th, and he pulls to within a shot of Scheffler. Scheffler is at 18-under, Clark and Rodgers are at 17-under, and Cantlay and Morikawa are at 15-under.
— Clark, on the 442-yard, par-4 12th, hits a tree with his second shot, and his ball goes out of bounds on his way to a double bogey, and Rodgers bogeys the 205-yard, par-3 7th. Meanwhile, Scheffler birdies the 560-yard, par-5 5th, and the leaderboard reads this way: Scheffler is at 19-under, Rodgers is at 16-under, and Clark and Morikawa are at 15-under.
— Rodgers double-bogeys the 463-yard, par-4 8th after hitting his tee shot into water, and Scheffler’s lead grows. Scheffler is at 19-under, Clark and Cantlay are at 15-under, and Kirk, Hoge, Poston, Rodgers, Aberg and Morikawa are at 14-under.
— Rodgers bounces back with an eagle pitch-in on the 337-yard, par-4 9th. The leaderboard reads this way: Scheffler is at 19-under, Rodgers is at 16-under, and Cantlay and Aberg are at 15-under.
— Rodgers bogeys the 12th, and Scheffler’s lead is four. He’s at 19-under, and six golfers — Kirk, Poston, Cantlay, Rodgers, Theegala and Morikawa — are at 15-under.
— At 4:28 local time, with storms in the area, the weather horn sounds. Scheffler is on the 12th hole.
— At 7 p.m., play resumes.
— Scheffler birdies the 356-yard, par-4 13th after hitting his second shot to 6 feet, and his lead is now five shots. He’s at 20-under, and Clark, Cantlay, Poston and Theegala are at 15-under.
— On the 581-yard, par-5 15th, Scheffler’s ball appears to catch mud off the tee, and he hits his second shot into the water on the left. From there, he drops and hits to 11 feet — seconds before the horn sounded again. But he elects to finish the hole, drops the putt for par and fist-pumps.
— Players will return at 8 a.m. Monday. The leaderboard reads this way: Scheffler is at 20-under, and Clark, Cantlay, Poston and Theegala are at 15-under.
— Scheffler hits his first shot, a tee shot on the 415-yard, par-4 16th, at 8:05 a.m. Monday. It splits the fairway. He pars the hole. On the 175-yard, par-3 17th, he hits to 20 feet with his tee shot. He pars the hole. On the 463-yard, par-4 18th, he hits to the center of the fairway with his tee shot, he hits over the green with his second shot, he takes a drop, he chips on, and he two-putts for bogey.
— The final leaderboard reads this way: Scheffler finishes at 19-under, Theegala finishes at 16-under, and Clark and Cantlay finish at 15-under.
The final word
“I’m just maturing as a person. On the course, I think, mentally, the last month or so has been as good as I’ve been mentally in a long time. And I think that’s why I’m seeing some of the results. Just staying in it, doing the best I can. A lot of that stuff is easier said than done, but I’m proud of how I’ve been mentally on the course the last bit.” — Scheffler on Golf Channel after his win
Nick Piastowski is a Senior Editor at Golf.com and Golf Magazine. In his role, he is responsible for editing, writing and developing stories across the golf space. And when he’s not writing about ways to hit the golf ball farther and straighter, the Milwaukee native is probably playing the game, hitting the ball left, right and short, and drinking a cold beer to wash away his score. You can reach out to him about any of these topics — his stories, his game or his beers — at nick.piastowski@golf.com.
