Scheffler shows fiery side after ruling PGA Championship
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA—Everything Scottie Scheffler did Sunday was expected.
When the pressure was on, he hit the fairways he needed to hit. He landed the approach shots he needed to land. And, of course, he made clutch putts he needed to make.
It’s what everyone has come to depend on from the world’s No. 1 player, a fine-tuned, almost mechanical approach to the game.
It was all expected, even predictable—right up until the celebration.
That’s when Scheffler, in a rare display of pure emotion, took off his hat and slammed it into the green on the 18th hole after winning the PGA Championship by five shots over Bryson DeChambeau, Harry English and Davis Riley at Quail Hollow.
He followed with a hard slap of hands with his caddie and a quick hug, reminiscent of a defensive lineman celebrating a quarterback sack or a basketball player enjoying a high-flying dunk.
A short while later Scheffler was asked to hoist the 27-pound Wanamaker Trophy and he thrust it so hard in the air that the top started to fly off.
Robot
So much for Scottie Scheffler being a robot.
The raw emotion he displayed Sunday reflects the burning competitiveness that resides within his built-for-golf 6-foot-3, 200-pound frame.
When asked afterward if he views himself as having a competitive fire, Scheffler laughed and said, “Yeah.”
The calm, even-keeled demeanor on the course has often overshadowed hidden that part of him, that burning fire within that has driven the Texan to greatness.
Scheffler has never been known as being intense, and he never seems to get too high or too low on the spectrum.
Even when he was falsely arrested at last year’s PGA Championship at Valhalla, he didn’t lash out at the police. He accepted what happened as a misunderstanding in the heat of a very confusing moment—in a situation in which other professional athletes might have fiercely sought to protect their image.
That’s why the ferocity with which he spiked his hat on 18, and the intense facial expressions in the moments afterward stood out. Maybe it was the culmination of battling back from puncturing the palm in his right hand while making ravioli last Christmas.
One thing is for sure, Sunday wasn’t par for the course for Scheffler.
“Just a lot of happiness,” Scheffler said later of his reaction to the second straight victory. “I think, you know, 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. This was a pretty challenging week.”
Scheffler didn’t swing the club all that well for the first two-and-a-half days in Charlotte.
But he played the back nine on Saturday and Sunday just about as well as anyone has, with the possible exception of some of Rory McIlroy’s exploits here at the Wells Fargo Championship.
On Saturday, Scheffler went 5-under par on the final five holes to take control of the tournament and carried a three-shot lead into the final round.
Most probably thought it was over.
But Scheffler struggled with his swing and made three uncharacteristic bogeys on the front nine Sunday, allowing two-time major champion Jon Rahm to pull into a tie at 9 under.
It didn’t last long.
Scheffler ate a sandwich as he made the turn at 2-over-par for the day, then proceeded to drill his drive down the middle of the fairway on the par-5 10th hole. He followed it with a approach shot to within 40 feet of the cup. He two-putted from there for birdie and never trailed again.
Scheffler really didn’t need to do much after that point.
