“All I can do is try to hit the shot I’m trying to hit,” remarked Scottie Scheffler after his third round put him in the driver’s seat heading into a Sunday at the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, NC, where he was being chased by the likes of Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau. “That’s what I’m focused on out there.”
It looked, for much of the front nine of the final round, like Scheffler’s famed focus wouldn’t be enough. He started the opening round with a bogey, and ended the front nine by making two more missteps in the final three holes. At that point, several of golf’s top names—notably Rahm and DeChambeau—were right there alongside Sheffler.
But as has been the case for the past couple of years, Scheffler managed to right the ship while those chasing him floundered. DeChambeau never recovered from an unforced error on the 13th, even though he followed it with two birdies. Rahm, who was tied for the lead on the 11th hole, stumbled badly on the final three holes—the so-called “Green Mile” finishing stretch at Quail Hollow. A finish of bogey, double-bogey, double-bogey, saw Rahm plunge down the leaderboard, finishing at 4-under par in a tie for 8th.
All the while, Scheffler was only concerned with his own game—just as he’d said the day previous. “I think I try to focus as much as I can on executing the shot, and there’s things out there that you can’t control,” Scheffler said. I can’t control what other guys are doing.” Instead of being rattled, Scheffler went to work, making three birdies on the back nine, as DeChambeau and Rahm faltered. Scheffler came to the final tee with a six-shot lead.
Scheffler finished at 11-under par enroute to winning his third major championship, and his first PGA Championship, after two previous Masters wins. It comes a year after Scheffler was arrested while driving into last year’s PGA Championship in Kentucky, a bizarre incident where eventually all charges were dropped.
Canadians on fire in final round
While neither challenged for the lead on the final day, Canadians Corey Conners and Taylor Pendrith had two of the best rounds on Sunday, bouncing both well up the leaderboard. Pendrith, from Thornhill, Ont., finished in a tie for 5th, by far the best showing in a major championship. He started the tournament well, and finished strongly, closing at 5-under, well behind Scheffler, and tied with former RBC Canadian Open winner Jhonattan Vegas, and JT Poston. Pendrith’s 3-under final round, which included a birdie on the 504-yard par 4 18th hole, saw him jump 18 spots in the final round. It was Pendrith’s first Top 10 finish in a major championship and he now sits in the Top 50 in the world.
Conners, from Listowel, Ont., is currently Canada’s top-ranked player at 21 in the world. He moved up more than 30 spots on Sunday with a 4-under 67 to finish in a tie for 19th. Canadians Nick Taylor, Adam Hadwin, and Mackenzie Hughes all failed to make the weekend.
Champions struggle with Quail Hollow
Phil Mickelson took four shots to get out of a bunker. Dustin Johnson, currently ranked 777 in the World Golf Ranking, saw his slide continue, as the two-time major champion was bettered by a half dozen club pros, finishing at 12-over and missing the cut. He wasn’t alone—Brooks Koepka, Jordan Spieth, Shane Lowry, Justin Thomas, Patrick Reed, and Jason Day were other major champs who didn’t make it to Saturday.
Shots at Quail Hollow
For several years, Quail Hollow hosted a regular PGA Tour event, and had previously held the PGA Championship and the Presidents Cup. But somehow it doesn’t get a ton of respect, and former PGA Tour winner Hunter Mahan added to that by comparing the course to a the family members who starred in a reality television series: “I guess I would say Quail Hollow is like a Kardashian. It’s very modern, beautiful and well-kept. But it lacks a soul or character.”
Instead of defending his course, Quail Hollow president Johnny Harris dismissed the remarks, saying he didn’t “know the last time [Mahan] was there.” Not exactly much of a response, but this is what passed for controversy in major championship golf these days.