This year, Scotty Scheffler (27, USA) laughed once again at the ‘Game of Thrones’, which is being held for the first place in the men’s golf world rankings. Schaeffler won the final round of the PGA Tour Players Championship (total prize money of $25 million) held at TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course (par 72, 7275 yards) in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, USA on the 13th (Korean time). and rose to number 1 in the world rankings. It is a recapture of three weeks since last month’s winner of the Genesis Invitational, Yon Lam (29, Spain), who gave away first place.카지노사이트
Scheffler, who started the game with a two-stroke lead, scored a 3-under 69 with 5 birdies and 2 bogies for a total of 17-under 271. At the beginning of the game, he suffered a crisis by writing down a bogey on the 3rd hole (par 3), but from the 8th hole (par 3), ‘Schaeffler’s time’ unfolded. By catching 5 consecutive line birdies up to hole 12 (par 4), he clearly captured the victory, beating 2nd place Tyrrell Hatton (32, England) by 5 strokes and holding the championship cup in his arms. Following the WM Phoenix Open last month, he won two victories this year alone, and became the third player to win the Masters and Players Championships in the same year following Jack Nicklaus (83, USA) and Tiger Woods (48, USA).
The competition between the ‘Big 3’ of men’s golf was the biggest concern of this tournament. In men’s golf this year, Rahm, Scheffler, and Rory McIlroy (34, Northern Ireland) are competing closely for the first to third places. Until the beginning of last month, McIlroy was ranked No. 1, but Rahm swept 3 wins and moved up to No. 1. ‘Spring Man’ Schaeffler started his hunt for the No. 1 spot by winning the WM Phoenix Open last month. They continued a close game with a gap of one point inside the world ranking points.
However, the match between the Big 3 in this tournament ended somewhat blandly. McIlroy was eliminated by the cut with a 5-over par, and Rahm withdrew due to stomach pain after the first round. On the other hand, Schaeffler won an overwhelming victory by hitting under par throughout the fourth round. As a result of this tournament, Schaeffler widened the gap with them by more than one point. Currently, Schaeffler’s average ranking point is 10.3, Lahm’s is 9.1, and McIlroy’s is 8.8.
Schaeffler’s greatest strength is his steady performance. In March of last year, he won the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play and ranked first in the world rankings, then entered the top 10 in 11 of the 22 tournaments he participated in. Kurt was eliminated only once. Thanks to this, the world ranking has never fallen below second place in the past year.
He is also an ‘all-round player’ who excels in distance, short game, and mentality. In this tournament, Schaeffler ranked first in average drive shot distance (305.9 yards), green hit rate (75%), and average at-bats (17.167). He was also strong on the 17th hole, which is called the ‘grave of golfers’. A total of 58 balls fell into the water on the 17th hole during the 4 rounds of this tournament. However, Scheffler blocked this hole with a par throughout the fourth round. Jordan Spieth (USA), Schaeffler’s close friend and competitor, said, “Schaeffler’s recent top 10 winning rate is astonishing, which has never been seen before.” “The ‘era of Schaeffler’ will continue for a while.”
With the win, Schaeffler earned 4.5 million dollars (approximately 5.95 billion won). He hit the ‘jackpot’, the highest-money prize ever on the PGA Tour, but the plan for his victory party was modest. Schaeffler replied, “All my family came to today’s game, including my grandmother and nephew. It was a burden, but I was even more happy to win in that situation. I will enjoy the food prepared by my grandmother with her family.”
Among Korean players, Lim Seong-jae hit even par that day and tied for 6th with 8 under par and 280 strokes, while Kim Si-woo, the winner of the 2017 tournament, tied for 27th with 5 under par and 283 strokes.