There were several notable accomplishments and events that could have been the choice for this week’s look back, but The Dallas Express chose to focus on a recent feat by a local golfer.
Dallas resident and world No.1-ranked golfer Scottie Scheffler has become one of the faces of the current era of golf, and last March, he accomplished something only two other golfers have: hold the Masters and the Players Championship titles at the same time.
The other two golfers? Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus. Pretty good company for the 27-year-old who has seemingly taken over the golf world.
“Quite a special group of people,” Scheffler told the media after his PLAYERS Championship win last March. “We could add all our majors and PLAYERS [Championships] together, and I have two now, and they have a lot more than that. But any time you can get mentioned in the same breath as Tiger and Jack, it’s very special. I’m very grateful for that.”
Scheffler shot a seven-under-par in the tournament’s third round to take a two-stroke lead into the final 18 holes and held off a late charge from Tyrell Hatton to win the tournament with a 17-under-par 271, sinking a 20-foot par putt on the final hole as he gave a celebratory fist pump.
“It’s a dream come true getting to play out here on Tour and to win this tournament,” Scheffler reflected as he revisited the 18th hole in a video posted on the PGA Tour’s social media accounts earlier this week. “It probably still hasn’t really sunk in that I have actually won here, but we’ll get there eventually.”
The win was Scheffler’s second of the season after winning the Waste Management Phoenix Open just a couple of weeks earlier, but he relinquished his Masters crown in Augusta with a 10th-place finish two weeks later. He routinely finished in the top five of most tournaments throughout the year but did not earn another win until the Hero World Challenge in early December.
Scheffler has skyrocketed up the PGA and World Golf rankings since the 2021-2022 season, where he won four tournaments: the Phoenix Open, the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play, and the Masters. He has established himself as a star with seven total PGA Tour wins and already has one from the Arnold Palmer Invitational this season.
This week, Scheffler is attempting to defend his PLAYERS Championship title at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. He enters Saturday tied for sixth on the leaderboard through two rounds.
