Scottie Scheffler hailed his mentality as his greatest strength after overcoming the challenge of Jon Rahm and having to change a non-conforming driver to win the 107th PGA Championship.
Rahm wiped out a five-shot overnight deficit to claim a share of the lead with seven holes remaining at Quail Hollow, only to collapse down the closing stretch and finish in a tie for eighth.
Scheffler responded to being caught with three birdies in the next six holes to ultimately cruise to a five-shot victory and third major title following his Masters victories in 2022 and 2024.
“This is a special tournament,” Scheffler said.
“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.
“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, and Scheffler revealed that he had also fallen foul of the regulations.
“My driver did fail me this week,” he added.
“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.”
Around a third of the 156-man field had their equipment tested at random and Scheffler added: “I would argue that if we’re going to test the drivers, we need to be even more robust in the way we test them.
“That was a conversation I had with one of the rules officials; if it’s something we’re going to take seriously, I feel like we’re almost going halfway with it right now.
“It’s a newer rule that we haven’t quite gotten right yet. I think we have some stuff to figure out. I think, if we’re going to do it, we might as well do it right, get more robust and get even more strict.
“You can test guys every week, if you want. I mean, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t.”
PA
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