Scottie Scheffler underlined his ability to cope under intense pressure as he won the PGA Championship for the first time following Jon Rahm’s collapse at Quail Hollow
Scottie Scheffler highlighted his mental strength by winning the PGA Championship(Image: Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Scottie Scheffler has been branded ‘a monster’ on the golf course after taking his tally of major titles to three.
The world No.1 cruised to his third major title in the 107th US PGA Championship after Jon Rahm’s bid to win the third leg of a career grand slam imploded at Quail Hollow. Scheffler overcame an early stumble to card a closing 71 and finish 11 under par, five shots ahead of Bryson DeChambeau, Harris English and Davis Riley.
Rahm held a share of the lead with seven holes to play. But the former Masters and US Open winner dropped five shots over the last three holes to slump to a nine-way tie for eighth, seven shots behind Scheffler, who joined the late Seve Ballesteros as the only players since 1906 to win each of their first three majors by three or more shots. It comes after a PGA Tour caddie was forced to make a humiliating apology to Rory McIlroy following an incident.
The 28-year-old Scheffler has been hailed for his calmness both on and off the course. But CBS analyst and fellow former Masters champion Trevor Immelman insists that it conceals the ruthlessness that lies within during high-pressure moments.
“I have a ton of respect for Scottie, as a human, as a competitor, as a golfer,” said the South African on the Fried Egg Golf podcast. “He lulls you to sleep with his calmness and how he seems not to be too affected by too much. But he’s mean, man, he’s a mean competitor.
“If you pull back some of those layers of the gentlemanly aspect that he portrays and you just isolate the competitor when he’s out on the course, he’s a monster, an absolute monster. I love that, I love watching it.”
Scottie Scheffler won the PGA Championship in impressive style(Image: AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
To back up Immelman’s theory, Scheffler highlighted his mental strength as a key factor in his PGA Championship success. He said: “This is a special tournament. Any time you can win a major championship is pretty cool and I’m proud of how I did this week just staying in it mentally and hitting the shots when I needed to.
“This back nine will be one that I remember for a long time. It was a grind out there. I think at one point on the front, I maybe had a four or five-shot lead, and making the turn I think I was tied for the lead.
“So to step up when I needed to the most, I’ll remember that for a while. I always try to lean as much as I can on my mind. I think that’s probably my greatest strength.
Trevor Immelman has hailed Scheffler’s ruthlessness(Image: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
“Today and this week I really just feel like I did just such a good job of staying patient when I wasn’t swinging it my best but I hit the shots when I needed to. I hit the important shots well this week, and that’s why I’m walking away with the trophy.”
Masters champion Rory McIlroy had to use a substitute driver at Quail Hollow after his club was found to be non-conforming in pre-tournament testing. Scheffler revealed that he had also fallen foul of the regulations.
He said: “My driver did fail me this week. We had a feeling that it was going to be coming because I’ve used that driver for over a year. I was kind of fortunate for it to last that long, I felt like.”
