Scottie Scheffler claims first PGA Tour title after outlasting Patrick Cantlay in WM Phoenix Open playoff

Scottsdale, Ariz. - Scotty Scheffler was also on par on Sunday and was 3 strokes behind after finishing par-3 12th at the WM Phoenix Open.

"If you had told me on 13th that I was going to be in the playoffs, I would have been happy," Scheffler said. "I felt a little bit out of it at the time."

He quickly got back into it and, two hours later, made a 25-foot birdie putt on the third hole of the playoffs with Patrick Cantley to win his first PGA Tour title.

"I was playing very well and I was getting very frustrated because I was scoring so poorly," Scheffler said. It's so amazing to put things together yesterday and brush off all of today's mistakes and still make it out. ,

Cantley lost an 11-foot birdie trying to finish it.

Schaeffler chased the bogey on 12 with three straight birdies, a birdie putt left 2-inch short stadium par-3 on 16th and birdie on 17th par-4. He missed his chance to win the par-4 18th in regulation, when his 5½-foot birdie effort slipped to the right.

"I think the first one is probably always the hardest and I definitely made it a lot harder on myself today," Scheffler said.

Schaeffler closed with 4-under 67 to match Kentley at 16-under 268 at TPC Scottsdale. Cantley, playing in a group ahead of Schaeffler, had his 67 a bogey-free.

Schaeffler begins his 71st tour. Before Sunday, the 25-year-old former Texas star's biggest highlight was shooting Jon Rahm in September in the United States' Ryder Cup win at Whistling Straits and 59 at the 2020 Northern Trust.

"I kept telling myself there would be some bumps in the road," Scheffler said.

Scheffler and Cantley matched the pars in the first two extra trips down 18, with both players hitting the fairway and green on the first and both scrambling to save the draw on the second.

Nine strokes entering the weekend, Schaeffler scored 62 on Saturday, pulled within 2 strokes of leader Sahith Thegala and moved into the final group.

"Scotty, obviously, played really well this weekend and deserves to win," Cantley said.

Cantley was making his debut at the event, adding it to his schedule only because he thought it would be easier to play three straight weeks between his two favorite events in California rather than flying back and forth from Florida. The FedEx Cup champion nearly missed out on six starts with his third win.

"I didn't bogey down and I put in a lot of good puts and didn't really get anything to go on throughout the day," he said.

Thegala, the 24-year-old rookie, who took the lead after each of the first three days, lost a chunk of the top spot with a bogey on the 17th par-4 after being dropped into the water.

"I thought I hit a great shot at 17," Thegla said. "It was chopping. As long as it's one more yard to the right, I think it's right. Kick straight and it's good. Kicked left into the water."

He scored 70 to finish third at 15-under with defending champions Brooks Koepka (69) and Xander Schöffle (68).

"I didn't hit the shot at the right time, when it counted," Thegla said.

He missed his chance at the 2020 Shriners Children's Open to become the first player since Martin Laird to win on a sponsor exemption.

Koepka, also the 2015 winner, finished with birdies 17 and 18.

"I put it really well. Really solid," Koepka said. "But the wedges weren't equal."

Billy Horschel (66) and Alex Noreen (68) were under 14, with Justin Thomas (66) backing another stroke with two-time Phoenix champ Hideki Matsuyama (69).

Rahm scored 67 runs to finish 10th. The top-ranked former Arizona State Star lives a few miles from the course.

With the leaders just starting, Carlos Ortiz brought the wild 16th hole to life before noon with the second hole-in-one in two days.

His 8 iron shot on the 178-yard hole landed in front of the pin and rolled. A day after Sam Ryder sent the stadium crowd into a frenzy, rowdy fans again threw bottles and cans when he stepped out from 124 yards. Ground in celebration, delay in game.

Ortiz said, “You start trying to watch out for your head because I got really nailed hard on the back with the beer can in the back.” After that I was just trying to avoid all the cans I could. ,

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