Elong run-up and then a short sprint to the top: It took Scottie Scheffler 71 appearances on the PGA Tour before he got his first win in Arizona seven weeks ago – and then just 42 days, during which he had two more wins, to get to the Rise to number one in the world golf rankings. For comparison, it took Tiger Woods 252 days after his first win to climb to the top of the pecking order.
On Sunday, Scheffler, 25, won his home game in Austin, Texas, the city where he played for the University of Texas Longhorns golf team for four years and often practiced on the Austin Country Club course. The 5’1, 200 pound Dallas pro defeated fellow American Kevin Kisner 4&3 (four holes won, with three remaining) in the final of the World Golf Championships – Dell Technologies Match Play, his third win in his past five Appearances on the PGA Tour. He received $ 2.1 million in prize money and has increased his earnings to $ 6.2 million in these weeks. No other professional has triumphed as often and earned as much prize money this season on the PGA Tour.
Unbelievable: Scottie Scheffler with his wife Meredith
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Image: AFP
But maybe even more important: Scheffler climbed from fifth place in the ranking to first place and dethroned the Spaniard Jon Rahm after 36 weeks. In other words, the competitor he surprisingly defeated in singles at the Ryder Cup in September last year with 4&3. Rahm failed in the round of 16 at the first extra hole because of the American Brooks Koepka and thus opened the door for Scheffler’s promotion.
The new Primus, the 25th in the history of the “Official Golf World Ranking” introduced in 1986, found that this top position never seemed within reach for him. “It’s not something I wanted to achieve or believed in,” he said. “I grew up wearing long pants to practice because I wanted to be a professional golfer. I dreamed of playing on the PGA Tour.”
“Scottie is probably playing the best golf on the planet right now”
But on Sunday he played as dominantly as you would expect from the best in the world. First he defeated the American Dustin Johnson 3&1 in the semifinals, before he didn’t give Kisner the slightest chance in the final. On Sunday, Scheffler was not behind once in the 57 holes played – and that against two opponents who up to that point had won all their matches and won this event, which is ranked by all major tournament series, once (Johnson 2017, Kisner 2019). Scheffler, on the other hand, had lost in the preliminary round in the group games against Englishman Tommy Fleetwood and only had to qualify for the knockout round at the sixth hole in the play-off against Englishman Matt Fitzpatrick.
But the longer the tournament lasted, the more Scheffler shone. In the final, Kisner failed to win a single hole, an advantage the 38-year-old pro from Aiken, South Carolina, fairly acknowledged. “Scottie is probably playing the best golf on the planet right now.” Canada’s Corey Conners defeated Dustin Johnson 3&1 in the third place playoff.
“I just play golf”
“My head is spinning. In my dreams, I’ve never gotten that far,” said Scheffler at the award ceremony, before tears of joy forced him to take a short break. “I just play golf. I love competitions. I’m just happy to be out here,” he added after hugging his wife Meredith, then his parents, three older sisters and a host of other acquaintances. “It’s been a crazy few months. I don’t know how to describe my feelings. I really wanted to win this tournament,” said Scheffler. Because last year he had also made it to the final, but was then defeated by his compatriot Billy Horschel, a competitor whom he defeated in the preliminary round this time.
Participation in the 2020 final was one of the many events that had long indicated that Scheffler would make it to the top of the world. Even as a junior he was among the best in the world and won the American junior championship. At the age of 17 he was allowed to play on the PGA Tour for the first time – together with his teammate Kisner he made the cut at the same time. In 2019 he survived the “Qualifying School” for the second American league, the Korn Ferry Tour, and won twice in his first season. On the PGA Tour he had repeatedly made headlines, for example with a round of 59 shots at the Northern Trust Open two years ago. However, he did not achieve the final breakthrough.
The Masters, the first major of the year, starts on Thursday next week in Augusta (Georgia) – and Scheffler is of course one of the narrower circle of favourites, even if he says: “I don’t feel like number one in the world. I still feel the same as I did four months ago and I hope that doesn’t change.”
