CHARLOTTE, N.C. — One year and one day after his booking mugshot was the lasting image of the PGA Championship, Scottie Scheffler was raising the Wanamaker Trophy for all to see Sunday as the world’s No. 1 golfer captured his third career major at Quail Hollow Club.
Scheffler posted an even-par 71 in the final round of the 107th PGA Championship for a five-stroke victory over Harris English, Bryson DeChambeau and Davis Riley. What had seemed inevitable at the start of the day began to slip away, at least for a brief moment, as Scheffler made the turn and was tied with Spain’s Jon Rahm on a sweltering, humid afternoon.
But then Scheffler stepped on the gas on the back nine, as he has done so many times before, and Rahm imploded on the “Green Mile” — Quail Hollow’s treacherous three-hole closing stretch.
After making the final putt, Scheffler threw his arms into the air as the crowd chanted his name. He spiked his hat on the green. He found his wife, Meredith, and son, Bennett. His father, Scott, told him: “Words cannot describe what we just witnessed. You are so tough. We are so proud of you.”
“Just a lot of happiness,” Scheffler said. “I think, you know, just maybe thankful as well. It was a long week. I felt like this was as hard as I battled for a tournament in my career. This was a pretty challenging week.”
In the span of only 366 days, Scheffler’s story went from being in handcuffs in the back of a squad car to adding the Wanamaker Trophy to an already remarkable career that includes two Masters green jackets.
“It’s definitely very sweet sitting here with the trophy,” Scheffler said. “I definitely have a few jokes that I want to say that I’m probably going to keep to myself.”
Scheffler joined Seve Ballesteros as the only golfers in the past 100 years to win each of their first three majors by more than three strokes. He won the 2022 Masters by three over Rory McIlroy and the 2024 Masters by four over Ludvig Åberg.
It was the 15th PGA Tour victory for the 28-year-old Scheffler. Since World War II, only two other golfers have won 15 times on tour and captured three majors before age 29 — Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.
Scheffler struggled with his driver on the front nine, hitting only two of his first seven fairways. Left with too many shots out of the deep rough, he didn’t have many good looks at birdies.
He acknowledged after the round that the United States Golf Association had deemed his driver nonconforming in testing Tuesday, which he said wasn’t a surprise because he’d been using his old driver for more than a year.
But Scheffler said having a new driver wasn’t his problem Sunday; it was his swing.
“I think that was my fault,” Scheffler said.
At the turn, caddie Ted Scott offered him some simple advice.
“He was hitting everything left, and he was like, ‘You see anything?'” Scott said.
Scott’s answer to Scheffler: “The swings look good, but everything’s going left. Maybe aim right.”
“I was just trying to be an idiot and just see what happened,” Scott told reporters after the round. “And he stepped up on 10 and hit a great drive. And I said, ‘There he is.’ That’s the only thing I said to him.
“Then he started hitting it great and started feeling good and comfortable. He started kind of knowing where the ball was going to come off, and that’s back to Scottie Scheffler golf.”
After squandering a three-stroke lead, Scheffler reclaimed it with a 9-foot birdie putt on No. 10. He went two in front with a 7-footer on No. 14, then led by three when Rahm made his first bogey of the round on No. 16.
Another birdie on the 15th gave Scheffler a four-shot cushion heading into the “Green Mile.” It would grow to five before he reached the 16th green.
“This back nine will be one that I remember for a long time,” Scheffler said. “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.”
Rahm was tied with Scheffler at 9 under after his 12th hole. He had good looks at birdies on Nos. 13 and 14 but missed both. After making par on the 15th, Rahm hit his tee shot on the par-4 16th way left, leading to a bogey.
On the par-3 17th, his tee shot bounced off the green and into the water, and he made a double-bogey 5. On the last hole, he hit his drive into the creek down the left side, leading to another double bogey. He was 5 over in his last three holes and tied for eighth at 4 under.
It was a disappointing finish for the two-time major champion, who hadn’t been in the mix at a major since tying for second at The Open in 2023.
“Am I embarrassed a little bit about how I finished today?” Rahm said. “Yeah, but I just need to get over it, get over myself. It’s not the end of the world.”
Scheffler reached the turn at 2-over 37, his advantage was down to one over Rahm, who then tied for the lead with a birdie on No. 11 following birdies on Nos. 8 and 10.
Rahm, who started the round five shots behind Scheffler, was wild off the tee, finding only two of the first 10 fairways. But he needed only 13 putts in the first 11 holes, chipping brilliantly when he missed the green and avoiding bogeys.
It was a far different feeling for Scheffler from last year’s PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky.
On May 17, 2024, Scheffler found himself in the back of a squad car after a Louisville Metro Police officer said the golfer disobeyed his command to stop and that he tried to drive around a crash scene on a median. Traffic outside the golf course had been stopped after a man was struck and killed by a shuttle bus around 5 a.m. ET.
An arrest report said Detective Bryan Gillis was dragged “to the ground” and suffered “pain, swelling, and abrasions to his left wrist” after Scheffler’s car “accelerated forward.”
Scheffler was charged with felony assault and several misdemeanors. But 12 days after his arrest, Jefferson County Attorney Mike O’Connell dropped the charges against Scheffler and said the golfer’s characterization that the incident was a “big misunderstanding” was corroborated by the evidence.
Going into last year’s PGA Championship, Scheffler had won four of his past five starts, including his second Masters victory that April. After being booked into a downtown detention center, he was released on bond less than an hour and a half before his second-round tee time.
Somehow, Scheffler posted a 5-under 66 that day. He slipped to a 2-over 73 in the third round, which knocked him out of the hunt. He bounced back with a 65 on Sunday and tied for eighth at 13 under, eight strokes behind winner Xander Schauffele.
On Sunday, he added another chapter to his growing legacy that figures to last much longer than his booking mugshot.
“Last year, sometimes it still doesn’t almost feel real,” Scheffler said. “It really doesn’t. It’s just one of those deals that I really don’t know how to describe it. But I can tell you it’s very sweet sitting here with the trophy this year.
“It’s a pretty sweet feeling.”
