Scottie Scheffler was not at the top of his game but survived a scare from Jon Rahm in the final round to win the PGA Championship by five strokes at Quail Hollow Club.
It wasn’t as easy as many expected, but the 28-year-old Scheffler collected his third major title with an even-par 71 that was enough for the Olympic champion to pick up something much bigger than a gold medal — the huge Wanamaker Trophy.
He finished at 11-under 273, while fellow Americans Bryson DeChambeau (70), Harris English (65) and Davis Riley (72) tied for second at 6-under. Venezuela’s Jhonattan Vegas (72), the tournament’s 36-hole leader, finished at 5-under alongside Canadian Taylor Pendrith (68) and J.T. Poston (73).
The World No. 1 started the day with a three-shot lead but several poor tee shots that he pulled on the front nine eventually caught up with him as he ran up three bogeys, along with one birdie, on the outward half. After Rahm, playing two pairings ahead, piled up three birdies in four holes around the turn, Scheffler arrived at the 10th tee tied for the lead. Scheffler got his driving back on track with a good tee shot at the par-5 10th, eventually making an up-and-down birdie from a greenside bunker to regain sole possession of the lead. He did not let it slip again. A 7-foot birdie at the drivable par-4 14th, where he got up and down from a greenside bunker, extended his lead to two shots, and there would be no further drama, at least in the battle for victory.
Scheffler bogeyed the first hole, but after a pulled drive at the par-4 second somehow avoided a clump of pines and ended up in prime position in pine straw only 85 yards from the hole, he took advantage of the lucky break to make a birdie. At that stage it seemed like the final round might be devoid of drama, but Rahm had other ideas. The two-time major winner from Spain, however, could not close the deal in the end.
His birdie putt on the 13th hole somehow lipped out. Had it dropped in, the last few holes might have unfolded differently, but when Rahm bogeyed the 16th his race had been run. A 6-iron into the water at the brutal par-3 17th only confirmed his fate, and consecutive double bogeys on the final two holes marked an ignominious finish for the LIV Golf player. He shot 73 to finish seven strokes behind Scheffler.
Rahm’s fellow LIV member, DeChambeau, briefly held sole possession of the lead in the third round before unraveling on the Green Mile. DeChambeau carded four birdies and three bogeys, never quite threatening Scheffler the way Rahm did.
Scheffler’s first two major titles came at the 2022 and 2024 Masters. In his most recent start prior to the PGA Championship, Scheffler won the CJ Cup Byron Nelson tournament by eight strokes.
Since 1970, only one other player has won consecutive PGA Tour appearances by at least 5 strokes: Woods, who did so twice. Scheffler is also the first player since Seve Ballesteros more than four decades ago to win his first three majors by at least three shots.
Scheffler’s performance was a reminder, if any was needed, that though Rory McIlroy is golf’s biggest current star, he has competition for the title of the game’s best player.
