| -17 S Scheffler (US); -12 T Hatton (Eng); -10 V Hovland (Nor), T Hoge (US) |
| Chosen: -9 H Matsuyama (Jpn); -8 J Rose (Eng), MW Lee (Aus); -6 A Rai (Eng); -5 D Willett (Eng), T Fleetwood (Eng) |
Scottie Scheffler will return to the highest of the world rankings after a commanding five-shot victory on the Gamers Championship at TPC Sawgrass.
The American holed 5 birdies on the trot halfway via his spherical to race away from the sector as he closed with a three-under 69 to win on 17 beneath.
England’s Tyrrell Hatton completed second on 12 beneath after birdieing his remaining 5 holes in a 65.
Viktor Hovland’s 68 lifted him into joint third on 10 beneath with Tom Hoge.
Scheffler will overtake Jon Rahm on the prime of the rankings when they’re up to date on Monday after the Spaniard pulled out of the match following the primary spherical due to sickness.
Strong spherical sufficient to win
The victory sees Scheffler develop into simply the third participant to carry the Gamers and Masters titles on the similar time, emulating Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus.
It additionally earns him $4.5m from a document $25m (£21m) purse on the PGA Tour’s flagship occasion. Final yr’s winner Cameron Smith earned $3.6m, whereas Rory McIlroy’s successful cheque in 2019 was $2.25m from a $12.5m pot.
Scheffler began the ultimate spherical with a two-shot lead over Min Woo Lee of Australia however that benefit had been worn out by the third gap. Lee birdied the opener and Scheffler bogeyed the third to go away them tied on 13 beneath.
Nevertheless, a triple-bogey seven on the fourth derailed Lee and he additionally had a double-bogey seven on the par-five eleventh as his problem additional pale. He finally signed for a 76 to complete on eight beneath par.
The risk to Scheffler strolling to the title gave the impression to be coming from Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama and Hatton, who loved a barnstorming end.
Matsuyama, the 2021 Masters champion, holed seven birdies to achieve 12 beneath after 13 holes however his problem stalled with a double bogey on the 14th and he finally completed on 9 beneath.
Hatton was stage par for his first 9 holes however then birdied the tenth, twelfth, and each gap from the 14th to play the ultimate 9 holes in a match record-equalling 29 and set a clubhouse goal of 12 beneath.
However simply as Hatton was ending up, Scheffler was chipping in for a birdie on the par-three eighth to get to 14 beneath and that sparked his run of 5 successive birdies that took him right into a six-shot lead with six to play.
“I did a very good job of staying affected person and never making an attempt to drive issues [early on] after which I acquired scorching in the midst of the spherical and tried to place issues away,” stated the Texan.
“The ultimate stretch is hard, particularly with how windy it was getting. The photographs on 17 had been difficult and I made an amazing par on 18. I am relieved and drained.”
Hatton’s 65 was the bottom spherical of the day by three photographs and earned him $2.725m as he climbed 24 locations up the leaderboard.
“I used to be tied twenty sixth going out, so me enjoying the again 9 in comparison with the leaders is a distinct form of stress. Going out you do not really feel you’ve gotten an opportunity,” he stated on Sky Sports activities.
“I would be mendacity if I stated I did not [want to climb as high as possible]. It wasn’t as a lot to get near Scottie, it was extra a aim of mine to attempt to end with as many birdies as potential. I gave myself some nice probabilities and the putter cooperated.”
Contrasting fortunes for English gamers
Hatton was not the one English participant to climb the leaderboard.
Justin Rose, the 2013 US Open champion, improved his whole by one to complete on eight beneath, though he double bogeyed the brief seventeenth after hitting his tee shot into the water to fall again from 10 beneath.
And 2016 Masters winner Danny Willett, who made the lower for the primary time in six makes an attempt on the Gamers, carded a 69 – his lowest spherical of the match – to complete on 5 beneath.
That left him on the identical rating as Tommy Fleetwood, who was enjoying within the subsequent to final pairing out and began the day 9 beneath, 5 photographs adrift of Scheffler.
Nevertheless, three bogeys in his opening six holes to successfully ended his problem, and though he atoned for these with three successive birdies from the tenth, double bogeys on the 14th and seventeenth holes proved pricey as he closed with a 76.
Aaron Rai, who additionally began on 9 beneath, combined three birdies with three bogeys in his opening dozen holes as his problem didn’t materialise. And the person who aced the par-three seventeenth on Saturday walked off with a six on Sunday after hitting his tee shot into the water. A 3-over 75 left him six beneath on his Gamers debut.
