Behind hole-out, putter change, Scottie Scheffler shoots lowest final-round of career at Mayakoba
Scottie Scheffler hasn’t been world No. 1 for two weeks, but Sunday at Mayakoba, he could have had everyone fooled.
The second-ranked player in the world shot a final-round 62 — the lowest Day 4 score of his PGA Tour career — thanks to seven birdies and a hole-out eagle from 108 yards on the par-4 third. Scheffler moved 33 spots up the leaderboard to solo second.
The 26-year-old needs a win or a solo second to return to world No. 1 (Rory McIlroy took that throne after winning the CJ Cup). That’s unlikely to happen, though, as Scheffler was finishing just as the afternoon wave was teeing off. However, the world ranking wasn’t on the reigning Masters champion’s mind Sunday.
“I was just trying to show up and have a good round of golf,” Scheffler said afterward. “Rankings are great, it was definitely fun being No. 1 in the world, it’s definitely something I hope to get back to, but it’s not something that’s going to occupy a lot of my thoughts.”
Part of the reason Scheffler projected up the leaderboard was because of an equipment change — one of which he used to win four times earlier this year, including the Masters.
Full-field scores from the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba
“I went back to my old putter for the round yesterday,” he said. “I think when I see so many putts go up to the cup and not go in, it was like, ‘Well, maybe I’ll just make a change and see what happens.’ This is usually the time of year when I’ll usually experiment with stuff. It’s probably something I’ll continue to fiddle around with, but I went back to something I’m really comfortable with and I putted well the last two days.”
Though his bogey-free 62 might have come too late to leave Mexico with a victory, Scheffler is content with his performance this week. And a few more showings similar to Sunday might slide him back to world No. 1 sooner rather than later.
“I feel good, game feels good,” he said. “I hit it nicely this week outside of the few bad breaks. And a few things go my way, a few more putts go in, I could have been right in the tournament.”
Scheffler will take Sunday’s momentum to next week’s Houston Open, where he held the 54-hole lead in 2021 but placed T-2.