HARTFORD, Connecticut – In a week that began with Scottie Scheffler’s discourse focused on mud balls, the Travelers Championship defending champion survived some unusually shaky iron play and a rallying Jon Rahm on Sunday to notch his second victory in three weeks in the PGA Championship at the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, N.C.
Scheffler solidified his position as the No. 1-ranked player in the world with a closing even-par 71 for a 72-hole total of 11-under 273 and a five-stroke victory over Bryson DeChambeau, Davis Riley and 2021 Travelers winner Harris English, whose 65 was the low round of the day. Scheffler’s 15th PGA Tour victory and third major championship title was thanks largely to shooting 5-under the last five holes in a 65 on Saturday that vaulted him into a three-stroke lead over Alex Noren.
After tapping in a meaningless bogey at the 18th hole 24 hours later and then embracing caddie Ted Scott, Scheffler showed a rare show of outward emotion, raising his arms and then ferociously slamming his cap to the 18th green and twice pumping his fist before hugs, kisses and tears for wife Meredith and son Bennett, who turned 1 year old last week.
“I’m just really proud of the way we fought this week,” Scheffler said after receiving his first Wanamaker Trophy to go with green jackets from Masters victories in 2022 and 2024. “I was battling my swing for the first couple days … it was a real team effort this week. I’m proud of the whole squad, and I’m looking forward to celebrating this one.”
And to think that a year earlier Scheffler was stuffed in the back of a squad car, charged with multiple crimes and stretched for his second-round tee time at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky. Along with a mug shot in an orange jumpsuit that became a popular Halloween costume, Scheffler now has the two green jackets and his first Wanamaker Trophy.
Scheffler’s latest victory assures the Travelers Championship on June 19-22 at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell will have at least three of the four reigning major golf champions: 2022 Travelers winner Xander Schauffele (2024 Open Championship), Rory McIlroy (Masters) and Scheffler. The U.S. Open will be played the week before the Travelers Championship at Oakmont (Pa.) Country Club, and the Open Championship is five weeks after the Travelers at Royal Portrush Golf Club in Portrush, Northern Ireland.
Three weeks ago, Scheffler ended an 11-month victory drought with an eight-stroke victory in his hometown event, the CJ Cup Bryon Nelson in suburban Dallas, Texas. Much of the drought could be attributed to not being able to make his usual preparations for this season, missing the first few weeks due to injuring his right hand when he tried using a wine glass to roll pasta for ravioli while making Christmas dinner. He underwent surgery to remove shards of glass from his palm and was unable to practice golf during the recovery. He finally made his 2025 debut as the two-time defending champion at The Players Championship in March and tied for 20th. Two weeks later, Scheffler finished second in the Houston Open, one stroke behind Min Woo Lee, and then was fourth in defense of his Masters title and eighth in the RBC Heritage.
Now, Scheffler has two more PGA Tour titles, including a major that was far more difficult to win than the final margin of victory would indicate. But Schaeffele still has a ways to go to approximate his career year in 2024, when he notched eight PGA Tour victories, including the Masters, Players Championship and Tour Championship, plus the Olympic gold medal and FedExCup, on the way to becoming a runaway Player of the Year and No. 1 in the world. Then at the PGA Championship, he survived the brush with the law to shoot 66 and eventually finish in a tie for eighth. He was the first player since Tiger Woods in 2007 to record a seven-win season, and his total on-course earnings for the season were a staggering $62 million.
“At the end of the year, I was very grateful, very thankful,” Scheffler said via Zoom during the Travelers Championship Media Day. “I had some pretty significant life experiences between Bennett being born (on May 8) and then all the golf tournaments as well. It was a lot of fun, but I didn’t feel any pressure to repeat this year. I was just hoping to continue that trend on the golf course.
“Life’s been good here at home. Bennett’s doing great. He’s healthy. He’s been doing well, and he’s been a lot of fun for Meredith and me.”
Scheffler started Sunday three ahead thanks to carding an eagle and three birdies in the final five holes to shoot 67 on Saturday. Scheffler opened with a bogey on Sunday after hitting his approach into a greenside bunker but quickly negated that with a curling 15-foot birdie putt on the second hole. He found another bunker at No. 3 but blasted to less than a foot for an easy save and then made an 18-foot putt to save par at No. 4 to maintain a five-stroke lead over five players.
But Scheffler quickly found two more bunkers, saving par from 6 feet at the fifth hole but missing from 10 feet at No. 6. That sliced his lead to three over Rahm and Noren, who missed an 8-foot birdie putt at No. 8 to get within two. But Rahm got within a stroke when he made a 15-foot putt for his third birdie in four holes at the 11th as Scheffler was making bogey at No. 9 to make the turn in 2-over 37.
Rahm had a chance to take the lead for the first time at the 11th hole but missed a curling 14-foot birdie putt and then found himself behind again when Scheffler sank a 9-footer for birdie at No. 10. Scheffler narrowly missed a 16-foot birdie try at the 11th hole, but Rahm failed from 6 feet at the short par-4 14th. And the Spaniard three-putted the 15th from the fringe, failing on a 12-foot second putt for birdie.
Scheffler then doubled his lead with a 6-foot birdie putt at the 14th hole, and he was three ahead again when Rahm bogeyed No. 16. Scheffler two-putted the par-5 15th hole for birdie, and he suddenly had a five-stroke lead when Rahm hit his tee shot into the water and made the first of two closing double-bogey 6.
Scheffler avoided the many disasters that befell most of his competition on the back nine, especially the Green Mile, Nos. 16-18. He joined Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as the only players during the modern era to win 15 times on the PGA Tour, including three majors, before the age of 29. Scheffler also became the first player to win three majors by three or more strokes since Seve Ballesteros in the 1983 (1979 Open Championship/won by 3, 1980 Masters Tournament/4, 1983 Masters Tournament/4).
“This back nine will be one that I remember for a long time,” Scheffler said. “It was a grind out there. I think at one point on the front I maybe had a four- or five-shot lead, and making the turn, I think I was tied for the lead. So to step up when I needed to the most, I’ll remember that for a while.”
After tying for the lead with six holes to go, Rahm had the disastrous finish in shooting 73 for 280 and a tie for eighth that included 2023 Travelers champion and 2025 U.S. Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley of Vermont (72). English birdied five of the last eight holes, including the 18th, in his 65 that was his low in a major championship and led to his best finish in a major. DeChambeau, who tied for fifth in the Masters and will defend his U.S. Open title next month, bogeyed the 18th hole for 70. Riley shot 72 despite a triple-bogey 8 on the seventh hole.
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