PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland (AP) — The enormous yellow scoreboard above the 18th green at Royal Portrush perfectly illustrated the state of golf these days. Scottie Scheffler’s name was at the top. No one was close.
That’s how it was in the British Open on Sunday, when Scheffler never gave anyone a chance from the time his 9-iron settled a foot away for birdie on the first hole until he tapped in for a 3-under 68 and a four-shot victory over Harris English.
That’s how it is in the sport, a level of dominance not seen since Tiger Woods.
“He is the bar that we’re all trying to get to,” Masters champion Rory McIlroy said. “In a historical context, you could argue that there’s only maybe two or three players in the history of the game that have been on a run the one that Scottie’s been on here for the last 24 to 36 months. Incredibly impressive.”
Scheffler not only won his second major this year — and fourth in the last three years — he captured the third leg of the career Grand Slam, now missing only the U.S. Open.
He became the first player in more than a century to win his first fourth major title by at least three shots, and if not for his lone blunder from a bunker on the eighth hole when he had a seven-shot lead, he would have played bogey-free on the weekend.
“Being able to walk up 18 with the tournament in hand is a really tough thing to describe. It’s a really cool feeling. I have a lot of gratitude towards being able to accomplish something like this,” Scheffler said, the silver claret jug on the table next to him.
“It’s taken a lot of work — not only a lot of work, but it takes a lot of patience,” he said. “It’s a high level of focus over 72 holes of a tournament. This was, I felt like, one of my best performances mentally.”
The emotions he showed were telling.
Until he had his name etched on golf’s oldest trophy, Scheffler had a week marked by his extraordinary insight on how he views winning. He said celebrations last only a few minutes. He has wondered, “What’s the point?”
He loves the work required to be the best. He thrives on competition. But in terms of fulfillment, he often questions why he wants to win so badly when the thrill of winning is fleeting.
On the golf course, his biggest fist pump was for a par on the sixth hole. As he crouched to line up his birdie putt on the 18th, he rested his head on his hand with a slight smile of deep satisfaction. When he tapped in the final putt, he plucked the ball from the cup and put it in his pocket as if he had just won a regular PGA Tour event.
But when he finally found his family — wife Meredith, 15-month-old son Bennett, and his parents — Scheffler went crazy. He thrust both arms in the air, pumped both arms, screamed and threw his cap in the air. That’s what it’s all about for the 29-year-old from Texas.
“She’s always the first person I want to celebrate with,” he said. “She knows me better than anybody. That’s my best friend. It takes a lot of work to be able to become good at this game, and I wouldn’t be able to do it without her support.”
McIlroy had referred to the outcome as “inevitable” when Scheffler built a four-shot lead going into the final round, and it was every bit of that.
The tap-in birdie on the first hole. A brilliant approach between two knobs to 7 feet for birdie on the fourth. A 15-foot birdie on No. 5. Most telling was his biggest celebration, a powerful fist pump when he made a 15-foot par putt on No. 6.
It was reminiscent of when Woods saved his biggest fist pump for a par on the 16th hole of his historic 15-shot victory at Pebble Beach in the 2000 U.S. Open, when it was clear Woods was competing mainly against himself.
That’s what it felt like until Scheffler’s one wobble a double bogey on No. 8 when it took two shots to get out of a fairway bunker.
That ended his streak of 32 consecutive holes without a bogey. The lead was down to four shots when Scottish Open winner Chris Gotterup birdied the ninth. And then Scheffler birdied the next hole. He played the back nine with eight pars and a birdie because that’s all he needed. No one could catch him.
“I played with him the first two days, and honestly I thought he was going to birdie every hole. It was incredible to watch,” Shane Lowry said. “If Scottie’s feet stayed stable and his swing looked like Adam Scott’s, we’d be talking about him in the same words as Tiger Woods. … His bad shots are really good. That’s when you know he’s really good.”
Scheffler, who finished at 17-under 267, won for the fourth time this year. He now has won 20 times worldwide in the last 30 months. This was the 11th straight time he turned a 54-hole lead into a victory.
“I don’t think we thought the golfing world would see someone as dominant as Tiger come through so soon, and here’s Scottie sort of taking that throne of dominance,” said Xander Schauffele, the defending champion who tied for seventh.
“You can’t even say he’s on a run. He’s just been killing it for over two years now,” he said. “He’s a tough man to beat, and when you see his name up on the leaderboard, it sucks for us.”
English capped off a memorable two weeks in the United Kingdom. His caddie of eight years couldn’t get a new travel visa because of a 10-year prison term he served two decades ago. English had a replacement last week at the Scottish Open and another this week.
It didn’t stop him. English closed with a 66 and was runner-up in a major for the second time this year — both times to Scheffler — as he strengthened his case for the Ryder Cup team.
“The only guy to beat me at the PGA and this week. I’m playing some good golf,” English said. “I wasn’t playing professional golf when Tiger was at his peak. But it’s pretty incredible, just how good of a front-runner he is.”
Li Haotong of China (70), Matt Fitzpatrick (69) and Wyndham Clark (65) tied for fourth. That gets Li into the Masters next year.
As for McIlroy, there were few complaints. He needed an electric start like he had Saturday and was eight shots behind an hour into the final round. No matter. The Masters champion soaked up adulation across Royal Portrush, closing with a 69 to tie for seventh.
“I wish I had have been closer to Scottie going into today and been able to make a real push,” McIlroy said. “But he’s been on a different level all week and he’s been on a different level for the last two years to the rest of us. He is the bar that we’re all trying to get to at this point.
“But for me to be in front of everyone here at home and to get that reception up the last, absolutely incredible. I’ll remember that for a long time.”
The only stumble from Scheffler came from his 15-month-old son, who tried to walk up a slope to the 18th green toward his dad and the claret jug, only to face-plant.
“I don’t think he’s ever been up a hill that big before,” Scheffler said with a laugh.
That also goes for players chasing Scheffler.
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