In his hometown event, the world’s best player left everyone behind him as the march to the finish line evolved into a sprint.
Scottie Scheffler won by eight strokes and finished at 31 under. It was his first victory of 2025, and he is extremely focused on his FedExCup defense and the remainder of the major championship season.
“What he’s doing is inspiring, what he’s been doing is inspiring, I mean, it wasn’t that long ago I was definitely better than him, and now I’m definitely not right now.” remarked Jordan Spieth, who grew up hearing about Scheffler, a town over, who was younger and really, really excellent.
“I hate admitting that about anybody, but I just watched it the first two rounds, and like I’ve got to do better. It’s incredibly inspiring.” he said.
Scheffler finished with an 8-under 63 Sunday, going out in a 6-under 30 after hitting eagle on the par-5 9th. He scored 3 more birdies in his first 6 holes on the back 9, until his almost laugh-out-loud flubbed chip on the penultimate hole, leading to a bogey. On the other hand, an easy par to finish sealed the victory.
“That 5-iron on nine comes to me because I hit it to whatever it was, five feet, and he just makes eagle. I don’t play with the world number one very often, and you’re almost shocked.” said Erik van Rooyen, who had his own 8-under 63 and finished at 23 under, which might have been the lowest or tied for the lowest point at this event each year in its history, except two and this year.
There’s nothing you can do. Scottie was almost perfect, which is to be expected from the world number one.
But Scheffler would be the first to acknowledge that van Rooyen deserves a lot of credit.
“You can kind of make a run on this golf course, but I knew I couldn’t just cruise to the finish line today. I was aware that I needed to play a strong round. Even if I shot even par today and played extremely cautious, Erik would have come after me. I was aware that I needed to go out and make some birdies. played a steady game of golf here and did well on the opening nine.” Scheffler said.
There you have it. The top player in the game and the current Player of the Year, Scheffler, finally received his first trophy of 2025. He finished in the top 10 six times this season, which is the most on the Tour, so it wasn’t like he was playing badly going into the week. Additionally, he ranks second in SG: Tee-to-Green and Strokes Gained: Total. Despite a delayed start due to surgery after injuring his hand while preparing ravioli for Christmas, it has been a clean year.
Rory McIlroy hasn’t yet surpassed Scheffler as the top player in the Official World Golf Ranking through the first half of 2025, but he’s playing like it with 3 victories already, including THE PLAYERS and the Masters. McIlroy claimed that Scheffler’s consistent dominance last year served as some inspiration. Scheffler says he’s motivated to compete even more even if the roles haven’t quite been reversed.
“That, in my opinion, is what makes our game so fantastic. I was the best player this week. We’ll find out who is the best player at the PGA the following week, as I have the week off. This year, Rory has been playing some amazing golf. Seeing the career Grand Slam was just remarkable. Being able to attend it made me happy.” Scheffler remarked.
You’re always a little more motivated to go out and practice after getting beaten, in my opinion.
In the big picture, it’s not like it took him that long to locate the winner’s circle after his year got off to a delayed start. May is only getting started. However, it appears that Scheffler found the question of “when” to be a bit too loud when he was compared to, well, Scheffler ’24.
There is no place like home, as the expression goes.
Scheffler was choked up while speaking to the audience following the victory. For several reasons, the occasion holds great significance for him. He saw it live as a child and had the opportunity to take his first TOUR when he was in high school. He is now married to the woman he was dating at the time. His caddy, his sister, was present on Sunday with her two children.
He provided them with the greatest cause for celebration.
“It was simply incredibly amazing memories, and my entire family was able to be here. Sometimes, I believe it all hits me at once. As children, we had many wonderful memories of attending this competition. It’s even more of a dream to be able to win it than it is to be able to participate.”
