Scheffler repeats at Players after Clark lip-out on 18

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Inside the first 49 years of the Avid gamers Championship, there had in no way been a repeat winner.

Jack Nicklaus couldn’t do it (thrice). Neither might Fred {{Couples}} (twice), Davis Love III (twice), Tiger Woods (twice) and so many others.

On Sunday, world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler turned the first back-to-back Avid gamers winner throughout the fiftieth model of the “fifth principal” at TPC Sawgrass, chasing down Xander Schauffele from 5 strokes once more initially of the final word spherical to win with a 72-hole full of 20 beneath.

“It’s strong adequate to win one Avid gamers,” talked about Scheffler, who closed with an 8-under 64. “So to have it back-to-back is awfully explicit. Yeah, truly grateful.”

With the two most modern principal championship winners, Brian Harman (The Open) and Wyndham Clark (U.S. Open), and the world’s sixth-ranked golfer, Schauffele, chasing him, Scheffler might solely watch from the driving range as a result of the trio tried to make one other birdie to energy a playoff.

Scheffler’s second victory in as many weeks wasn’t secured until Clark, after he birdied the long-lasting seventeenth hole to maneuver to 1 once more, watched his 17-foot birdie try on the troublesome 18th cruelly catch the left lip and spin out for par.

“I was out on the range,” Scheffler talked about. “I was listening to the gang noise. I heard a groan, and so it seemed like a missed putt.”

Clark, who had a 4-shot lead after 36 holes, talked about he was “gutted” the strive didn’t fall.

“I have no idea the way in which that putt doesn’t go in,” Clark talked about. “It was type of right-center with like a foot to go, and I knew it was going to take care of breaking. Nevertheless it had tempo and I believed it was going to go inside left, and even when it type of lipped, I believed it’d lip in. I’m pretty gutted it didn’t go in.”

Scheffler turned solely the fourth Avid gamers winner to shoot 65 or larger throughout the final spherical, changing into a member of Nicklaus (65 in 1976), {{Couples}} (64 in 1996) and Love (64 in 2003).

Harman, Schauffele and Clark tied for second at 19 beneath. Former Open Championship winner Matt Fitzpatrick was fifth at 16 beneath, birdieing his final 4 holes.

Scheffler matched the most important comeback by a Avid gamers Championship winner at TPC Sawgrass; Justin Leonard and Henrik Stenson moreover received right here from 5 behind throughout the final spherical in 1998 and 2009, respectively. Scheffler didn’t make a bogey over his final 31 holes.

Scheffler was plagued by a neck injury throughout the second and third rounds, nonetheless battled via the ache Saturday to publish birdies on 4 of his remaining 5 holes to stay throughout the hunt.

“I discussed sooner than for those who get an acute injury like that, ought to you’ll be able to rise up the next day feeling just a bit bit larger or the exact same, it’s a win,” Scheffler talked about. “Typically the morning after is worse the subsequent day. Woke up Saturday feeling just a bit bit larger, was able to hit some footage yesterday nonetheless not many. Then right now I wakened feeling fairly close to common. I went in the marketplace and had an awesome spherical of golf.”

After putting himself once more into hanging place, Scheffler talked about a “scorching day [Sunday] might go a long way.”

He was definitely scorching over the final word 18 holes. After posting pars on his first three holes, he jump-started his spherical by carding a hole-out eagle on the par-4 fourth from 92 yards away to maneuver to 14 beneath. He adopted that with an 18-foot putt for birdie on No. 5 and birdie putts of 16 toes and 11 toes on Nos. 8 and 9, respectively.

Scheffler, a former Masters champion, grabbed a share of the lead at 19 beneath with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 11 and 12. He squandered a possibility to take the solo lead when he missed a 5-foot birdie putt on No. 13, his solely miss inside 5 toes your total match.

Clark talked about he checked out a scoreboard for the first time at 11.

“I type of chuckled and I discussed, ‘Yeah, the truth is,'” he talked about. “I suggest, he’s the right participant on the earth.”

When Schauffele observed Scheffler near the very best, he thought, “It’s merely one different week.”

After falling 1 behind Schauffele, Scheffler tied him as soon as extra at 20 beneath on the par-5 sixteenth. After hitting his technique shot into the small greenside pot bunker, Scheffler chipped out to 1 foot and tapped in for birdie. By then, Schauffele had posted back-to-back bogeys, Clark had fallen once more and Harman was figuring out of holes.