With 9 birdies, 0 bogeys and new putter grip, Scottie Scheffler earns Hero Award

Scotty Scheffler wins. Copy and paste. Rinse and repeat. If you’re in the middle of the holiday rush, missed the broadcast and are wondering what happened, know that this is a bit repetitive. This year’s winner of the Arnold Palmer Championship, The Players Championship, the Masters, the RBC Heritage, the Memorial, the Travelers, the Olympics and the Tour Championship is — exhale — the winner of the Hero World Championship.

Sunday’s final round at Albany Golf Course was also a show. A little bit of everything. Do you like precision? Scheffler’s judgment was spot on. He hit 17 of 18 greens. Do you like creativity? Scheffler is very creative. A low-flying stinger avoided trouble on the par-5 ninth and ended up with a birdie. Do you like creativity? Scheffler is creative. His new claw-style putter grip is likely here to stay.

There was also a rally. Scheffler started the final round one shot behind leader Justin Thomas, but three holes and two birdies later, he was in the lead for good. Since then, he birdied holes 4, 9, 10, 13, 14, 16 and 18 for a total of 9 birdies and 0 bogeys for a 63 and a total score of 25 under par. 6 strokes ahead of runner-up Tom King.

But here’s the thing: back to the first paragraph. You kind of want Scheffler to win, right? Look at the 2024 resume. The situation in 2022 and 2023 will be much the same.

Thomas said earlier this week that this is his undeniable greatness, perhaps greater than any other attribute. He made a similar point at RBC Heritage in April. Eight months later, nothing has changed.

“I think that’s very underrated — just underrated for how well he’s expected to play,” Thomas said. “I think people don’t understand how hard it is to win when you’re expected to win or when everyone out there expects you to play well and you expect you to play well and still play well. I think expectations are very It’s very difficult to manage. It’s really a gift, like being able to control distance with a wedge or hit the driver a long way, whatever it is, just being able to stay in the moment, stay in the moment.

“I think — when I think of the people who are the best at this, I think of Scotty and Sander [Schauffele]they are the best two when you play with them, they stay in the moment and stay in the moment no matter how the day goes. I think it’s hard to explain, but sometimes it’s hard to do. When you’re playing that well, sometimes it’s harder because it’s easy to think, okay, if I keep playing like this, I’m going to win this game, I’m going to win the next game and the next game is really — I mean, tiger [Woods] Always talk about this, every shot is the most important shot you’ll ever hit in your life, and after you hit that shot, you do it again and the next thing you know, you’re like oh, I won again. This is a very difficult thing to do. To me, that’s the most impressive thing about Scotty.

Yes, Scheffler won again.

But it’s incredible.

takeout

Scheffler isn’t slowing down. He’s going to be fighting for every game – every game – next year.

Ranking breakdown

— Justin Thomas starts the final round with a one-shot lead. Thomas is 17 under, Scotty Scheffler is 16 under, Tom King is 15 under and Keegan Bradley is 13 under.

— Scheffler birdied the 439-yard par-4 first hole to share the lead, but Thomas responded quickly with a birdie of his own. Thomas is at 18 under, Scheffler at 17 under and Gold at 15 under.

— Thomas bogeyed the 177-yard par-3 second hole after chipping in from the green, and Scheffler made par to tie them for the lead. Thomas and Scheffler were at 17 under, Kim at 15 under and Bradley at 13 under.

— Scheffler now leads by one after a birdie on the 561-yard, par-5 third hole to make it two. Scheffler is 18 under, Thomas is 17 under and Gold is 16 under.

last word

“Yeah, very satisfying,” Scheffler said on NBC after the win. There’s really nothing more to say.