Jon Rahm made it close for a while on Sunday, but Scheffler’s inevitability hung in the Charlotte air all day until he eventually pulled away to win the Wanamaker Trophy.
— Jon Rahm walked down the sloping 16th fairway at Quail Hollow Country Club with his head bowed. The stern facial expression he hid underneath his bright pink hat gave nothing away as the sounds that came from the nearby 14th green across the water, where Scottie Scheffler had just made birdie to go up by two shots, all but spelled out his major championship fate.
“Even if you don’t want to look at leaderboards”, Rahm said, “the crowd lets you know.”
For a brief moment, Rahm had appeared capable of doing the unthinkable: tracking down the No. 1 player in the world, who began the day five shots ahead of Rahm, on a major championship Sunday. After tying the lead on the 11th hole thanks to Scheffler’s uncharacteristic 2-over front nine, it seemed like Rahm had hoovered up the momentum and was ready to run downhill on his way to the Wanamaker Trophy.
But beating Scheffler requires more than just a single stretch of good golf. The now three-time major winner’s trademark is not flash but steadiness and an uncanny ability to be unflappable in the face of mistakes. The pressure he puts on his opponents happens organically; his game is so sound and bulletproof that those trying to beat him know the effort required to outlast the best player in the world will be herculean.
Scheffler’s inevitability hung in the humid Charlotte air all of Sunday. It’s why by the time Rahm walked off the 16th green with a bogey and Scheffler had played 14 and 15 in 2 under, the Spaniard couldn’t help but go for broke. His tee shot on the par-3 17th hole found the water. Game over.
“This back nine will be one that I remember for a long time”, Scheffler said. “To step up when I needed to the most, I’ll remember that for a while.”
Nineteen years ago during the 2006 PGA Championship, Luke Donald watched a similar kind of movie unfold. Donald — then the 10th-ranked player in the world — held a share of the lead after 36 holes and shot a 66 at Medinah Country Club on Saturday to get to 14 under. There was only one problem: Tiger Woods shot a course-record 65 that day to head into Sunday in a tie for the lead with Donald. To that point, Woods had been 11-0 in majors where he held at least a share of the 54-hole lead.
“Tiger had this sort of aura that you just feel like you need to do more than you need to really elevate your game to beat him”, Donald said Sunday after finishing his final round at Quail Hollow.
