By Roy J. Akers- www.skyviewsports.net
With Scottie Scheffler looking to win his third grand slam title and holding a final-day lead, only 12 golfers are within six strokes of his (-11) score, and four within four shots. It’s his tournament to lose, but that is why they play the game. To the 4th round of the PGA Championship and the golf…
Holding the Wanamaker Trophy
Scottie Scheffler started the day with a three-shot lead over Alex Noren, and when both bogeyed the first hole, did that signal to the field the World’s No. 1 was vulnerable? Not really. That would come an hour later. Scheffler increased his lead to five briefly before Davis Riley holed out from the fringe on the 5th. SS grinded out pars on three consecutive holes, including a downhill 20-footer right in the jar. The driver was a problem for the leader. Several driver blocks to the left and short of the green left him scrambling for par. Both Rahm and Noren made birdies to close the front nine, and Scheffler’s lead was at three. Rahm’s birdie on ten cuts the lead to two and then Scheffler’s bogey and yet another birdie by Rahm at ten leaves the tournament tied.
Scheffler’s birdie at ten puts him up by one. Another birdie on 14 puts him up by two with four to play. After Rahm visited the drink on 17, Scheffler birdied again on 15 to go up by four. The lead would grow to six before he went into cruise control on 18 and wins by five.
Final Scorecard << Complete Field
Leaking Bogeys
JT Poston is known for being a good putter on Tour. Tell that to his putter. Short misses throughout the front nine derailed Poston from finishing better than T-5. Poston bogeyed the last two holes after fighting back from a poor start.
Davis Riley made lemonade out of his lemon of a hole on number 7. A triple bogey effectively ended his chance for a win, but he went three under the rest of the way and finished in a three-way tie for second.
Pars
Bryson DeChambeau was striping the golf ball off the tee. Driving the ball in play will over 300 yards, he had several short irons into the green. DeChambeau made two birdies against a birdie to get to the log jam at (-6). The fans were behind Bryson, but his ability to close with the putter on the green was shaky. He finishes the day in a three-way tie for second. He owned it afterward in a CBS interview when he said point blank: “I did not get it done, but I have a few tricks up my sleeve for the US Open.”
Double Bogeys
Jon Rahm, a two-time major winner, started Sunday out with seven straight pars before a birdie on the eighth pulled him to within four of Scheffler. He hit only three greens on the front nine and was (-1). Rahm birdies 9 and 10 and has only 12 putts to draw within two shots of the struggling Scottie. He tied the leader but his putter proved to be faulty on the back nine and he eventually went down by three strokes after 16. Rahm’s water shot on 17 was the end for the LIV golfer. He finishes five over on the last three holes including back-to-back double bogeys and goes home T-8th. He was the co-leader after 11. Ouch!
Waiting All Day
Harris English posted the low round on the final day with a six-under 65. English had seven birdies against a bogey in the round. His back-nine 31 was sizzling. He waited around to find out that the field made his six-under score tied for the second-best in the tournament. He finished before the leaders began their rounds.
Roy J. Akers covers the PGA Tour for www.skyviewsports.net
