Scottie Scheffler had every reason to worry the PGA Championship was slipping away.
A five-shot lead on the front nine was gone in four holes. Every shot seemed to go left and he didn’t know why. Jon Rahm was peeling off birdies and on the verge of tracking him down Sunday at Quail Hollow.
And that’s when Scheffler showed why he has been golf’s No. 1 player for two straight years, why he has compiled more PGA Tour titles quicker than anyone this side of Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus since 1950.
And why he now has the Wanamaker Trophy to go along with two Masters titles.
Scheffler turned a tense Sunday into another runaway by not missing a shot when the pressure was at its peak, giving himself another pleasant walk to the 18th green with another major title secure in the hands of golf’s best.
“This back nine will be one that I remember for a long time,” Scheffler said. “It was a grind out there. I think at one point on the front I maybe had a four- or five-shot lead, and making the turn, I think I was tied for the lead.
“So to step up when I needed to the most, I’ll remember that for a while.”
There was nothing fancy about it, just fairways and greens and holing the putts that eluded Rahm in his first time in serious contention at a major since he won the 2023 Masters and left at the end of the year for LIV Golf.
Rahm’s hopes ended when he failed to convert birdie chances on the two easiest holes on the back nine at Quail Hollow, and then finished bogey-double bogey-double bogey. By then the tournament was effective over. It only cost Rahm money.
The only comfort for Scheffler was looking across the lake on the par-5 15th to see Rahm in a bunker, leading to bogey on the 16th that gave Scheffler a three-shot cushion. Scheffler recalls thinking, “If I birdie here, it’s going to go a long way.”
He drilled 3-wood just over the back of the green, and from the same spot where Rahm earlier that hit putter 12 feet by the hole, Scheffler cozied it up to a foot for birdie.
Scheffler closed with a bogey he could afford for an even-par 71, giving him a five-shot victory and his third major title. Scheffler became the first player since Seve Ballesteros to win his first three majors by three shots or more.
The margin doesn’t match up with the grind. That much was clear when Scheffler raised his arms on the 18th green and then ferociously slammed his cap to the turf, a brand of emotion rarely seen by the 28-year-old Texas star.
“Just a lot of happiness,” he said. “Just maybe thankful as well. It was a long week. I felt like this was as hard as I battled for a tournament in my career.”
It was a lot sweeter than last year, when he was arrested outside Valhalla Golf Club for charges later dropped that he wasn’t following police instructions as they investigated a traffic fatality.
No change of that happening at Quail Hollow. He stayed close enough to walk.
Inside the ropes, this was no walk in the park the final margin might suggest.
Scheffler had a five-shot lead standing on the sixth tee. But with a shaky swing that led to two bogeys, and with Rahm making three birdies in a four-hole stretch around the turn, they were tied when Scheffler got to the 10th tee.
It looked like a duel to the finish, with Bryson DeChambeau doing all he could to get in the mix. Under the most pressure he felt all day, Scheffler didn’t miss a shot off the tee or from the fairway until his lead was back to four shots.
Rahm wound up seven shots behind, but the two-time major champion was the only serious threat. After bogey on the 16th hole, he had 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.
All that work to make up a five-shot deficit at the start of the day and Rahm closed with a 73 to tie for eighth.
“Yeah, the last three holes, it’s a tough pill to swallow right now,” Rahm said.
“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 U.S. Open.”
DeChambeau birdied the 14th and 15th to get within two shots, but he never had another good look at birdie and bogeyed the 18th for a 70. He tied for second with Harris English (65) and Davis Riley, who overcame a triple bogey on No. 7 to play bogey-free the rest of the way and salvaged a 72.
“I’m baffled right now. Just felt like things just didn’t go my way this week,” DeChambeau said. “I drove it as good as I can. … I gave myself a good chance. I just felt like a couple breaks went a different way.”
J.T. Poston, the North Carolina native who also flirted with an outside chance, bogeyed the last two holes for a 73 to tie for fifth.
English finished his Sunday-best score as Scheffler was making his way down the third hole. He had a flight to catch that afternoon. He also was the clubhouse leader. But he looked at Scheffler’s name atop the leaderboard and said with a smile, “I don’t see him slipping a whole lot. I see myself catching my flight.”
But then Scheffler unable to find his swing. He hit only two fairway on the front nine. He failed to convert birdies on the par-5 seventh and the reachable par-4 eighth. On eight of his nine holes, his miss was to the left. And he was tied with the red-hot Rahm.
But part of Scheffler’s greatness is his ability to wear down a field, which he did at the Masters both times he won.
“I hit the important shots well this week, and that’s why I’m walking away with the trophy,” Scheffler said.
He finished at 11-under 273 and picked up his 15th victory in just his sixth year on the PGA Tour. Dating to 1950, Scheffler is the third-fastest player to go from one to 15 tour wins, behind only Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus, and even then by a matter of months.
His victory comes a month after Rory McIlroy captured the Masters to complete the career Grand Slam. The PGA Championship was always going to be a tough act to follow and it didn’t come close in terms of drama. But it served as a reminder why Scheffler has been No. 1 for two straight years, and why it will take a lot to replace him.
McIlroy made the cut on the number, shot 72-72 on the weekend and tied for 47th. It was his lowest 72-hole finish in four years in the majors. McIlroy declined all four days to speak to the media.
Scheffler came into the PGA Championship off an eight-shot victory in the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. And then he won a major by five. It was the first time since Woods in 2000 that a player won consecutive PGA Tour starts by five shots or more in the same season.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.