He had to wait an extra day to make it official, but on Monday morning, Scottie Scheffler finished off one of the great seven-week runs in modern golf history with a three-shot win at the RBC Heritage.
Scheffler took a five-stroke lead into Sunday evening as play was suspended for darkness, and he returned early on Monday to finish off the $20 million signature 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 bogey at the last was his first of the week.
A Scheffler win did not look like a foregone conclusion early in the week. Scheffler, understandably spent from an emotional and mental perspective on the heels of his second Masters win in three years last week, shanked a bunker shot on the third hole, made an early double and played his round in just 2 under (which is fairly average for him). Then he played all of Round 2 and Round 3 as well as 14 holes of Round 4 without making anything worse than a 4 before recording a couple of 5s -- including that bogey -- over the last few holes.
"Last week was fantastic," he told CBS Sports on Monday, referencing his second Masters victory."Coming into this week, I didn't have my usual prep work but showed up rested, ready to go. Got off to a slow start on Thursday, but other than that, I played some really nice golf in the middle of the tournament. It's nice to be done."
It is Scheffler's fourth victory in his last five events, all of which have been monstrous tournaments. Scheffler won the Arnold Palmer Invitational and Players Championship in March, finished T2 at the Houston Open and has now taken the Masters and RBC Heritage in April.
Total money earned in that time: over $16 million.
The last player to win 4 times in a 5-start stretch on the PGA Tour was Tiger Woods at the end of 2007 into the beginning of 2008.
— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) April 20, 2024
Tiger's run was
W-W-T2-W-W-W-W-W
That stretch 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 10th victory marks the first time since 1985 (Bernhard Langer) that a player has won the Masters and RBC Heritage in the same season.
"I'm just maturing as a person," said Scheffler 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. Just staying in it, doing the best I can. A lot of that stuff is easier said than done. I'm proud of how I've been mentally on the course the last bit."
It's been a remarkable stretch for Scottie Scheffler. He has four victories on the year, nearly $20 million earned and 39 consecutive rounds at or under par. With three more majors forthcoming, he hopes the baseline will continue. If it does, it could be one of the most special golf years we have ever seen.
2024 RBC Heritage leaderboard
2. Sahith Theegala (-16): This would have been an awesome spot for the biggest win of Theegala's career to date ... if not for Scheffler. Theegala has become a contender every week on the PGA Tour, though, and should start to factor into more majors, not to mention future United States team events like the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup.Â
Sahith has made a weakness a strength with his driving, and taken a strength (putting) and made it an elite skill.
— No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) April 21, 2024
Awesome to see his consistency so far this season. pic.twitter.com/JXXaiwm2Ir
T3. Patrick Cantlay (-15): Cantlay's finish was amusing. He played through a group on Sunday in an attempt to finish, but when he got up to his ball, he decided it was too dark to continue. So, he returned on Monday morning and got up and down for par to finish T3 at 15 under, which is his best finish of the year to date. He impressively finished second from tee to green next to Scheffler and in the top 10 in approach play. This is what Cantlay does best, and it's good to see him getting back to it as major season gets underway.
T3. Wyndham Clark (-15): There is a Scottie Scheffler-less world in which Clark is having the best year of anybody. He's second in money and second in FedEx Cup points. The problem is that Scheffler has doubled him up in both categories. Still, it was a good outcome for Clark following his missed cut at the Masters. He now has four top fives in the signature events, including a win at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am. His other top fives include the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Players Championship and this week's RBC Heritage.
T5. Justin Thomas (-14): This is among the quietest top fives of the year (and perhaps of Thomas' career). He finished 8th in the field from tee to green and seems to have bounced back from a disappointing Players Championship-Masters combination. He's probably facing some mental hurdles in that it was this time last year that his much-talked-about struggles began to emerge. He'll try to fortify them in time for a PGA Championship in Kentucky, which he will badly want to win. This week's T5 is a good start.