MIAMI
\nAmerican Scottie Scheffler won The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass by five strokes on Sunday to return to number one in the world rankings.
\nScheffler ran away with the US PGA Tour showdown at Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, after making five straight birdies between the eighth and 12th holes while his closest rival, Australian Min Woo Lee imploded.
\nThe defending Masters champion will replace Spain\u2019s Jon Rahm atop the rankings on Monday. Rahm withdrew from the event due to illness.
\nThe 26-year-old from New Jersey won four events on the tour last year, including at Augusta and now has two more already this season having won in Phoenix last month.
\n\u201cI\u2019m just trying to get a little bit better at a time, not overthink things and fortunately to be able to see some good results and enjoy some wins and I\u2019m very thankful,\u201d he said before greeting his watching family.
\nThe wind might have become a factor in a closer battle but by the time he reached the testing final holes, Scheffler had already wrapped things up.
\n\u201cIt was a lot of fun. Long day, tough day. I knew the conditions were going to get really hard late and I did a really good job of staying patient, not trying to force things, and then I got hot kind of in the middle of the round and tried to put things away as quickly as I could,\u201d he said.
\nScheffler began the day with a two-stroke lead over Lee, who immediately reduced the deficit with a birdie on the opening hole.
\nWhen Scheffler bogeyed the third, the pair were in a tie for the lead but it was soon to change dramatically when Lee had a nightmare on the par-4 fourth hole, where he made a triple bogey.
\nLee found the rough off the tee and took his medicine, chipping out back on to the fairway but that cautious decision was followed by his approach shot ending in the water.
\nA double bogey on the 11th, where he got in trouble in the trees, saw Lee fall totally out of contention and by then Scheffler was in his groove and moving away from the field.
\n\u201cIt happened really quick,\u201d said the Australian.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s one of those things where it\u2019s Sunday and you just make a couple bad decisions and it all kind of falls down.
\n\u201cTo make a seven there, it was pretty gut wrenching after I started really well,\u201d he added.
\n\u201cBut Scottie played really well and it was just a battle from then. I tried to get it back, but I just didn\u2019t have my approach game,\u201d he added.
\nIt was a victory procession for Scheffler over the final holes but he crowned his victory with a superb 21-foot putt on the 18th before soaking up the applause.
\nEngland\u2019s Tyrrell Hatton finished second after a sensational close with five straight birdies to complete the back nine in 29, the lowest score on the back section in a final round.
\nHatton ended on 12-under par after his 65 with Norway\u2019s Viktor Hovland and American Tom Hoge tied for third, a further two strokes back.
\n\u201cIt was just a pretty mad two and a half hours in the end, from standing on the tenth tee\u201d said Hatton, who birdied seven of his last nine holes.
\nJapan\u2019s Hideki Matsuyama shot a four-under 68 to finish fifth, 9-under for the week, with his fine round undone by a double bogey on the 14th where he got in trouble in the rough.
\nAustralia\u2019s Cam Davis was third on the leaderboard overnight but had to settle for T6 after shooting 74.
\nWorld number three Rory McIlroy had missed the cut.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MIAMI American Scottie Scheffler won The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass by five strokes on Sunday to return to number one in the world rankings. Scheffler ran away with the US PGA Tour showdown at Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, after making five straight birdies between the eighth and 12th holes while his closest rival, Australian […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-319608","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n