A dominant athlete content to avoid controversy or the spotlight might not fit the modern mould, but Scheffler’s win at Royal Portrush was riveting for its own reasons.
Ahead of the final round of this year’s Open Championship, Rory McIlroy said Scottie Scheffler is “inevitable”. After the round, Xander Schauffele summed up the world No.1’s dominance even better.
Wyndham Clark secured his career-best result at the Open Championship with a sensational final round at Royal Portrush, but his locker-room incident at last month’s US Open still lingered.
Scheffler topped the Open field in strokes gained/approach, gaining 9.065 strokes. He was equally impressive on the greens, ranking second in strokes gained/putting for the week at 8.516.
Deep behind enemy lines in Northern Ireland, the Crushers GC captain shot from the hip, blasting out a series of quotes that left little doubt about his commitment to the American cause.
In playing companion Matt Fitzpatrick’s view, what he witnessed of Scheffler on the greens during the third round at Royal Portrush was far different from the reputation he knew only a few years ago.
With two rounds to play, anything can still happen. Yet with the dominant way Scheffler is performing in almost every aspect of the game, he looks like the man to beat this weekend.
Cameras had a close-up view of Lowry’s ball in the rough as he took a practice swing at the 12th hole, and the ball visibly moved after his iron passed through the nearby grass.
With consecutive top-10 finishes among strong fields in his past two starts, Fitzpatrick, 30, is threatening to return to major-championship form. Which is exactly what he’s thinking about.
Ryan Peake delivered a thoughtful and eloquent press conference after a dream week playing with Phil Mickelson ended in a missed cut, but the West Australian was defiant he’ll be back at the links major.
Shane Lowry unleashing F-bomb rants during golf tournaments is certainly nothing new. He did it at this year’s PGA Championship. He did it at last year’s Open Championship. He, well, you get the point. But what happened on Friday was still a bit shocking from the Irishman.
Cameron Smith guaranteed an unwanted statistic when his missed cut at the 153rd Open Championship capped early exits from all four major championships this year.