A green Masters jacket wasn’t enough for Scottie Scheffler. The American was running on emotional fumes, fresh from his quadruple victory at Augusta National, but full of purpose that more than compensated for his lack of preparation for the RBC Heritage. The result was not only similar, it was expected.
He rarely missed a shot. He gave little hope to those who pursued him. And he left Harbor Town on Monday morning with another win that extended a dominance not seen since Tiger Woods’ peak years. Scheffler has now won four of his last five starts, with the exception of a second-place finish in the Houston Open when he misread a 6-foot birdie putt that would have forced a playoff.
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‘I didn’t come here just to hold some ceremony and have people congratulate me. I came here with a purpose,” Scheffler said after completing a three-under 68 for a three-shot win.
The victory was inevitable – Scheffler had a five-shot lead with three holes to play when the final round, postponed due to storms on Sunday afternoon, was suspended by darkness.
He considers Harbor Town one of his tougher wins because it followed the Masters.
“I came off the high last week to come in here, not really with a ton of energy, not really with a ton of prep work,” Scheffler said. “I think it’s underestimated how hard it is to do the things Tiger did and win like every week. It takes a lot out of you emotionally and physically, especially major championships.”
Scheffler now has 40 consecutive rounds tied or better, a streak that began last August at East Lake in the Tour Championship. Such is his position at number 1 in the world that he became the first player since Woods to exceed the average of 15 points.
“It’s very impressive,” said Patrick Cantlay. “He’s been playing great for a while – several years – and it looks like he’s playing the best golf of his life right now.”
The only competition on Monday morning was for second place.
The storms brought cold weather and strong winds. Scheffler missed the 18th green on the right side, chipped safely to 18 feet and two-putted for bogey. That ended his streak of 68 consecutive holes with no worse than a par.
“I hit driver, 3-wood there,” Scheffler said. “So I’m going to take that as a standard for myself.”
Sahith Theegala birdied the 16th hole, saved par from a bunker on the par-3 17th and closed with a par of 68 to finish alone in second place, a $666,667 difference from being tied with three players. had finished in second place.
“Even though I finished second, I felt like I was never really in it to win there. Scottie was so far ahead,” Theegala said.
Cantlay (68) and US Open champion Wyndham Clark, who finished his 65th on Sunday before the storms, finished in a tie for third place.
Scheffler finished at 19-under 265 and earned $3.2 million. That brings his season total to almost $18.7 million in just 10 tournaments.
The good news for the rest of the PGA Tour: Scheffler won’t appear again until the PGA Championship in late May. He traveled back home to Dallas, where his wife was expecting their first child.
Such is Scheffler’s dominance that his last seven wins have come on fields with at least eight of the world’s top 10 players.
The last player to win such a stretch (four wins and a second place) was Woods in late 2007. Woods went on to win his first three PGA Tour starts (and one on the European Tour) to start 2008.
Scheffler now has 10 titles on the PGA Tour in 51 tournaments, dating back to his first victory in the 2022 Phoenix Open.
“It won’t be boring,” Scheffler said. “I think it’s an addictive feeling to hit a really well-struck golf shot close to the pin.”