Scottie Scheffler closed with a flawless 63 to successfully defend his title at the Hero World Challenge by six points at 25-under.
“We did a lot of good things on the golf course this week, played some solid golf,” said the American. “I think only two bogeys for the week and then I made a good amount of birdies. Eliminating the mistakes and making a good amount of birdies is always helpful. Teddy and I felt like we did a pretty good job of keeping the golf course in front of us and staying in position.”
Scheffler joins Tiger Woods (2006, 2007) and Viktor Hovland (2021, 2022) as the only back-to-back winners of the Hero World Challenge. He has also successfully defended two other titles on the PGA Tour, the WM Phoenix Open in 2022 and 2023, and The Players in 2023 and 2024.
“I think it’s been a great year, it’s been a fun year. I’ve been fortunate to get some wins out of some really good golf. This was another week where I played really solid and was able to see some nice results from that. Overall it was a pretty fun year.
“I never really played golf for legacy, that’s not something I think about day to day. I play because I love the competition, I love coming out here and competing. I like trying to get the most out of myself out here on the golf course. That’s why I’m always trying to improve, trying to do little things to get better. I don’t think about records, I don’t think about achievements, wins, losses, I just try and get the most out of myself and come out here and compete and have a good attitude.”
Scheffler bettered his winning score from 2023 by five strokes and was one stroke shy of tying the 72-hole tournament record set by Jordan Spieth in 2014 (262/-26).
He is a nominee for Jack Nicklaus Award as PGA Tour Player of the Year and seeks to become the first player to win PGA Tour Player of the Year honors in three consecutive years since Tiger Woods (2005-2007).
The World No. 1 is the 2024 FedExCup champion having claimed seven PGA Tour titles in 2024 as well as the Olympic gold medal.
Korean Tom Kim shot a final round 68 to finish second at 10-under. With 27 birdies he tied Scheffler for the most birdies made this week, including the 12 he made in a third-round 10-under 62 which marked the lowest third-round score in tournament history.
Overnight leader Justin Thomas closed with a 71 to finish third at 18-under ahead of fellow Americans Akshay Bhatia in fourth place at 15-under having shot a 69 and Keegan Bradley in fifth place one shot further behind after a 71.
“It’s just disappointing,” said Thomas. “I would have liked to put a little more heat obviously on Scottie going in the back nine. You know, I felt like I got a couple bad breaks there on the par 3s, the wind completely died or switched on 5. But I mean, you know, obviously I can’t expect to have good things happen when I’m leading by 1 over Scottie and only shooting 1 under on Sunday.
“I felt like I was pretty far from my best stuff all week, but I was managing everything well. I mean, I didn’t do a good job of performing and just playing better today, but I mean, it’s always fun to be in the final group of a tournament. If I keep doing it more often, it will happen eventually.”
