PGA Championship: Scottie Scheffler revels in 'hardest ever' tournament win to clinch third major title
World No 1 Scottie Scheffler secured his 15th PGA Tour win and third major title with a five-shot victory at the PGA Championship; Jon Rahm tied for the lead with seven holes to go but dropped five shots over the infamous 'Green Mile' closing three-hole stretch at Quail Hollow
Monday 19 May 2025 07:36, UK
Scottie Scheffler said his PGA Championship win at Quail Hollow was "as hard as I battled for a tournament in my career" after clinching his third major title.
The world No 1 recovered from blowing a five-shot lead and withstood a final-round charge from Jon Rahm to ultimately cruise to an impressive five-stroke victory courtesy of a superb back nine to his round of 71.
Rahm made three birdies in a four-hole stretch around the turn to briefly pull level, before dropping five shots over the infamous 'Green Mile' closing three-hole stretch to hand full advantage to Scheffler, who followed up a birdie at 10 with a couple more at 14 and 15 to pull clear.
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"To step up when I needed to the most, this back nine will be one that I remember for a long time," Scheffler said after winning his first PGA Championship to go with his two Masters victories.
"I felt like this was as hard as I battled for a tournament in my career. It was a pretty challenging week.
"The first two days I did not swing it my best and I was able to post a score somehow. The last five holes yesterday [Saturday], that's where I really kind of put myself ahead in the tournament."
Scheffler stormed into a three-stroke lead on Saturday evening courtesy of a stunning five-under finish through the final five holes, and he needed all of that advantage to help hold off the charging Rahm on the final afternoon.
"I knew somebody was going to make a move today," Scheffler said. "There's too much talent in the game of golf for me to slap the ball around today with a three-shot lead - three shots in 18 holes is really not that much."
He added: "With this closing stretch, you can never be complacent with your game. I had seen that Jon and I were tied when I was playing the 10th maybe.
"I did my best to keep executing shots and stay in my little bubble.
"I just prepared for Jon to go out and have a great back nine as well. He's a great player and a great champion, and he does a really good job of stepping up in the big moments.
"I didn't really relax until I got the ball over the water on 17. I felt like after that, I could kind of limp on 18 with the lead that I had."
With three majors in total now to his name, and two of the four in the books, the 28-year-old was asked about his career goals from this point onwards.
"I love coming out here and trying to compete and win golf tournaments, that's what I'm focused on," he answered.
"After this week I'm going to go home and get ready for next week's tournament, and the show goes on. If I show up and miss the cut next week, I'm going to have to answer questions of what went wrong and just start over again on Thursday.
"That's one of the things that can be frustrating about our game and it's also what's great about our game. If I had a tough day today and came in with a loss, I could step back up on the tee Thursday next week and have another chance to win a tournament.
"It's an endless pursuit and it's a lot of fun. It's definitely one of the great joys of my life to be able to compete out here."
What's next?
Scheffler is due to headline the next two PGA Tour events, with the Charles Schwab Challenge starting on Thursday at the Colonial Country Club before the Memorial Tournament - a Signature Event - takes places at Muirfield Village.
The American will be among the pre-tournament favourites once again at the US Open from June 12-15, held at Oakmont Country Club, where Bryson DeChambeau returns as defending champion after last year's dramatic victory over Rory McIlroy. Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract on NOW.
