Miami (AFP) – World number one Scottie Scheffler produced a final day charge on Sunday to overhaul Viktor Hovland and win the PGA Tour Championship for the second time. Four-time major champion Scheffler, who also won the season-ending Tour Championship in 2024, carded a four-under-par 66 to finish on 16 under and seal a three-shot victory at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.
Scheffler started the day three off the pace following Saturday’s third round but chipped away at Hovland’s advantage before pulling clear down the stretch to clinch the 22nd title of his PGA Tour career and the $10 million winner’s check. “Today was a day in which I was fortunate to get off to a good start and then was able to make some birdies to kind of seal the deal,” Scheffler said afterwards. “Just continuing to battle, day in and day out is something that I’m very proud of…coming from behind and being able to win tournaments is a really cool feeling.”
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Hovland, who had been chasing his second Tour Championship win after lifting the 2023 title, saw his hopes evaporate with a closing two-over-par 72. He finished on 13 under. Earlier, Scheffler had launched his bid for the title with a brilliant birdie on the par-three second, his tee shot finishing just an inch from the cup for a simple tap-in. Another birdie followed on the fourth when he rolled in a 23-foot putt for birdie.
There was a hiccup on the seventh with a bogey, but he pulled that shot back with his third birdie of the day on the eighth. Birdies on the 10th and 13th left him at four under before a bogey checked his momentum on 15. But he dealt the decisive blow on the 16th, when a sensational second shot from the bunker left him with an 11-foot birdie putt, which he duly rolled in for a two-shot advantage.
– Writing on the wall –
Hovland had a golden chance to pull a shot back on the 15th, but his putt lipped out to leave Scheffler in control. The Norwegian missed another birdie opportunity on the 16th, but his putt curled agonizingly wide of the hole to leave him trailing by two shots with two to play. The writing was on the wall for Hovland after his third bogey of the day left him trailing by three shots, making Scheffler untouchable.
It was a frustrating final day for Hovland, who had rattled in putt after putt in Saturday’s third round on his way to a five-under-par 65. His sure touch on the greens deserted him on Sunday, though, with only one birdie made. Ryan Gerard finished in third place on 12 under after a closing 72. Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, who had thrust himself into contention with a dazzling seven-under-par 63 on Saturday, found the going harder with a closing one-under-par 69. McIlroy finished in a cluster of seven players on 11 under, five off Scheffler’s winning total.
England’s Tommy Fleetwood, the 2025 champion, was one shot back from McIlroy, tied for 11th on 10 under alongside Australia’s Adam Scott and Cameron Young of the United States.
© 2024 AFP
