The PGA Tour Championship is the final tournament of the PGA Tour. Is exclusive to 30 of the best golfers in the world–based on how many points they scored throughout the season.
This year's four main stars of the show were; Viktor Hovland, Scottie Scheffler, Xander Shauffele, and Collin Morikawa. Viktor came into this tournament looking for wins 2 weeks in a row. Scheffler came into this tournament looking to cap off a historical season; Schauffele and Morikawa came in to finish off a pretty decent season.
Based on how many points the player gained throughout the season from placements and wins in the tournaments, they are rewarded with multiple strokes under par, just to begin with. For example, Scottie Scheffler had the most points out of any golfer that whole year, so he started off at 10 under par, or -10, for being the best golfer this year. Viktor Hovland started at -8, Collin Morikawa started at -1, and Xander Schauffele started at -3.
Viktor started off his week with a score of -2 after the first day putting him at -10, but Morikawa started off hot for his week, firing a 61, also going to -10 after the first day. Schauffele started off the week just fine shooting a -3 on the first day, putting him at -6. Scheffler would have a rough start though, as he would triple bogey (+3) the 15th hole, finishing him at +1 for the day, making him -9 for the tournament. Hovland and Morikawa were tied for first; after the first day of play at -10, with Scheffler right behind them at -9. Schauffele would only be a couple shots back at -6.
Schauffele, Hovland, and Morikawa would all shoot a 64 (-6) on the second day, while Scheffler would fire a -5 65 on the second day. This kept Hovland and Morikawa tied for the lead through two days at -16. This had everyone thinking that this tournament would come down to the wire between these two. Schauffele would end the day at -12, just 4 strokes back of the lead and 2 back of Scottie Scheffler (who finished the second day at -14).
Scheffler and Morikawa would both come tumbling down the leaderboard on the third day, which was disappointing to see from two players with such high expectations. They both shot a 73 (+3) on the day and that would put them at -13 and -11. Xander and Viktor on the other hand would shoot well that day, Viktor putting up a -4 66 and Schauffele putting up a -2 68. This would put Viktor Hovland on top by many shots and Scheffler and Morikawa out of the picture. After the 3rd round, Viktor was at -20 and Schauffele was at -14. Hovland would go into the final round leading by 6.
The final round was nothing special from Scheffler and Morikawa; with Scheffler shooting an even 70 and Morikawa shooting a +2 72. This put them both out of contention for the win. Viktor Hovland and Xander Schauffele would both come out firing low rounds, on the final day of the tournament though. On the front nine, Scauffele gained one shot on Viktor– shooting -5, while Viktor shot -4– putting Xander within 5.
On the back nine, Viktor seemed to be falling apart, even letting Schauffele get within three shots of him. But ultimately, Hovland came out on top after making 2 clutch birdies, winning by 5. Xander put up an amazing -8 62 to finish off the tournament, but Viktor put up a -7 63 on the last day– securing the win and giving any other golfer no chance to win whatsoever. After Viktor won the tournament (and technically the whole season since he had the most points after this tournament) Schauffele said, “It was the most fun I had losing in quite some time. It’s such a weird feeling. I shot 62. I lost by 5.” This being said by Xander just goes to show just how dominant Viktor Hovland was in this tournament.
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