Blake Davis
He had to wait another day to make it official, but on Monday morning, Scottie Scheffler capped off one of the great seven-week runs in modern golf history with a three-stroke victory at the RBC Heritage.
Scheffler took a five-stroke lead Sunday night when play was suspended for nightfall, and he returned Monday morning to close out the exclusive $20 million event at 19 under. He finished par-par-bogey to beat Sahith Theegala by three shots and Patrick Cantlay and Wyndham Clark by four each. The last bogeyman was the first of the week.
Scheffler’s victory didn’t seem like a foregone conclusion at the start of the week. Scheffler, understandably exhausted from an emotional and mental perspective shortly after his second Masters victory in three years last week, hit a bunker shot on the third hole, made an early double and played his round in just 2 under (which is pretty average for him). Then he played all of Round 2 and Round 3, as well as 14 holes of Round 4 without doing anything worse than a 4 before recording a few 5s – including that bogey – on the last few holes.
“Last week was fantastic,” he told CBS Sports on Monday, referring to his second Masters victory. “Earlier this week, I didn’t do my usual prep work, but I showed up rested, ready to go. on Thursday, but other than that, I played really good golf in the middle of the tournament.
It’s Scheffler’s fourth win in the last five events, all monster tournaments. Scheffler won the Arnold Palmer Invitational and Players Championship in March, finished T2 at the Houston Open and has now won the Masters and RBC Heritage in April.
Total money earned during this period: more than $16 million.
That period is a career for most players, but for Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the world by a wide margin, it’s just March and April.
In addition to making history, Scheffler’s tenth victory marks the first time since 1985 (Bernhard Langer) that a player has won the Masters and the RBC Heritage in the same season.
“I’m just maturing as a person,” Scheffler said on his run to 10 wins. “On the course, mentally, the last month or so has been as good as I’ve been mentally in a long time. I think that’s why I’m seeing some of the results. . Many of these things are easier said than done. I’m proud of how mentally I was on the course in the last part.
It’s been a remarkable journey for Scottie Scheffler. He has four wins on the year, nearly $20 million in earnings and 39 consecutive rounds at or below par. With three more majors coming soon, he hopes the baseline continues. If that happens, it could be one of the most special years of golf we’ve ever seen.
2024 RBC Equity Ranking Table
2. Sahith Theegala (-16): This would have been an incredible venue for the biggest win of Theegala’s career thus far…if it weren’t for Scheffler. Theegala has become a contender every week on the PGA Tour and should start factoring in more major tournaments, not to mention future Team USA events like the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup.
T3. Patrick Cantlay (-15): Cantlay’s ending was fun. He played for a group on Sunday in an attempt to finish, but when he got up to get the ball he decided it was too dark to continue. So he came back on Monday morning and went up and down to finish T3 at 15 under, which is his best result of the year to date. He impressively finished second from tee to green alongside Scheffler and in the top 10 in approach play. That’s what Cantlay does best, and it’s good to see him getting back to that as the senior season gets underway.
T3. Wyndham Clark (-15): There is a world without Scottie Scheffler in which Clark is having his best year ever. He is second in money and second in FedEx Cup points. The problem is that Scheffler has doubled in both categories. Still, it was a good result for Clark after his Masters failure. He now has four top finishes in signature events, including a win at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am. His other top five include the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the Players Championship and this week’s RBC Heritage.
T5. Justin Thomas (-14): This is in the top five quietest of the year (and perhaps of Thomas’ career). He finished 8th in the field from tee to green and appears to have bounced back from a disappointing Players Championship-Masters combination. He’s probably facing some mental hurdles, as it was around this time last year that his much talked about struggles began to surface. He will try to strengthen them in time for a PGA Championship in Kentucky, which he will very much want to win. This week’s T5 is a good start.
