PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA | Two reigning major champions and an Olympic gold medalist all went to the 18th green with birdie putts to catch the world No. 1. Each effort came agonizingly close in arguably the most dramatic showdown in the 50-year history of the Players Championship.
“I was listening to the crowd noise,” said Scottie Scheffler, who was standing on the range at 20-under-par 268 thanks to a closing 64, waiting for someone to join him in a playoff. “I heard a groan, and so it sounded like a missed putt.”
Three groans, actually, as Scheffler dodged all three bullets aimed right at his clubhouse lead by Brian Harman, Xander Schauffele and Wyndham Clark.
Harman, the reigning Open champion, seemed the biggest threat to catch Scheffler in the waning hour. Only a shot behind with the three to play, he couldn’t get the birdie he needed on the par-5 16th or the iconic par-3 17th. His approach on 18 checked up on the front of the green, 17 feet below the hole. His try just ducked underneath the cup.
“I had my chances, just didn’t cash in,” said Harman, who battled back from a first-round 72 that left him seven shots out.
Then came Schauffele, the 54-hole leader and the 2021 Olympic gold medalist. He held at least a share of the lead until consecutive bogeys on 14 and 15 dropped him two behind. He got the birdie he needed on 16 and gave himself a great look inside 7 feet on 17, but missed.
On 18, his approach from the pine straw flared right and left him 61 feet downhill to tie. He gave it a good run, but his ball slid harmlessly by.
“I hung in there,” said Schauffele, who lamented not having his “A game” in a Sunday 70. “I gave myself a realistic chance. Not on 18, but on 17. If I made that, it could have been a different story. I hung tough, and, yeah, no surprise to see Scottie’s name up there.”
Last came Clark, who three holes earlier seemed the least likely to threaten the leader from three behind. He had a look from 11 feet for eagle on 16 but settled for a critical birdie. Then he took dead aim at the back right pin on 17 and stuck it inside 5 feet to make another birdie.
On 18, he faced nearly the identical 17-foot putt that Harman had in front of him. The reigning U.S. Open champion saw the break better, and his putt looked true. It curled deep enough inside the cup that the ball’s Titleist logo disappeared. He took two stutter steps toward the hole before stopping in his tracks when the ball cruelly horseshoed back out at him.
“I don’t know how that putt doesn’t go in,” Clark said. “It was kind of right center with like a foot to go, and I knew it was going to keep breaking, but it had speed and I thought it was going to be good inside left, and even when it kind of lipped, I thought it would lip in. I’m pretty gutted it didn’t go in.”
Clark conceded that he didn’t look at the scoreboard until after 11, focusing on trying to catch Schauffele. Then he saw Scheffler’s name up there.
“I kind of chuckled and I said, yeah, of course. I mean, he’s the best player in the world,” said Clark, who has consecutive runner-ups behind Scheffler in the last two weeks.
Each player felt the acute sting of losing the chance to be Players champion in the immediate aftermath.
“These suck,” Schauffele said. “When I went to bed last night, it’s not exactly how I envisioned walking off the 18th green. I’ll lick my wounds and right back to it next week.”
Said Harman: “I’m bummed. I kind of shot myself in the foot the first day or I could have really done something special this week.”
Added Clark: “Maybe next week sometime I’ll really be able to look at those positives and feel good about it, but right now I’m pretty down.”
Scott Michaux