On Sunday, March 17th, the final round of the Players Championship was played. The main players being Scottie Scheffler, who started Sunday at -12, Xander Schauffele, who started Sunday at -17, Brian Harman, who started Sunday at -15, and Wyndham Clark, who started Sunday at -16.
Scottie Scheffler was the first to tee off of the 4 since he started the day at -12. He had a phenomenal day firing a 64 (-8) in the final round to put him at -20 in the tournament. This was one of the lowest rounds by any player at the tournament--- for it to come in the final round was extremely talented and clutch. He was making many long range putts and even holed out an eagle shot from about 100 yards away. He put himself in the lead by the time he finished and all he could do was wait for the rest of the players to chase him down to either win or force a playoff.
Brian Harman was the next to finish after Scheffler. He started the day at 15-under par and would have to shoot a 67 to even force a playoff versus Scheffler. He shot a 2-under 34 on the front 9 and would have to shoot a 3-under 33 on the back 9 to have a shot at winning. He would birdie holes 11 and 15, and would have to just birdie one more to force a playoff. He ended up scoring par on 16 and 17. It came down to hole 18, to find himself with about a 20-footer for birdie which was a must make. Harman blew it right past the hole and just missed by about a foot, leaving him just 1 shot behind Scottie Scheffler and no way to win. He would finish the tournament at 19-under par.
Wyndham Clark and Xander Schauffele were in the final group of the day, and the last people had a chance to catch Scheffler. Schauffele had a rather rough day on the course, as he was just not scoring well. He shot a 34 on the front 9, but shot a 36 on the back 9, scoring a bogey on holes 14 and 15, ruining his confidence and chance to try and win. On hole 17 though, he had a chance to tie Scheffler, but missed a putt from 6 '8”, still leaving him one shot behind. He would have to birdie the challenging hole 18, where the only chance he gave himself to do so was with a putt from over 50 feet, which he missed. He would also finish 1 shot back of Scheffler with no chance of winning anymore.
Wyndham Clark also started his day off by firing a 34 on the front 9 and he would have to shoot another 34 on the back 9 in order to have a chance at winning. Coming to hole 18, Clark was on a roll since he birdied both 16 and 17, but a birdie was needed on hole 18 to force a playoff. Tensions were rising as he found himself about 17 feet away from the hole with a putt to keep his hopes alive. Around this time, Scheffler was practicing just in case a playoff was needed. Wyndham hit his putt, and it was tracking towards the hole. As it approached the hole, it went around the lip 180 degrees and spun right back out. Everyone was in disbelief as they thought that the putt would for sure drop.
This missed putt would declare Scottie Scheffler as the 2024 Players Champion as well as being the first player to ever win the event in back-to-back years. Scheffler has been playing really good golf this season and is just continuing to get better.
Image courtesy of Flickr: Erik