Jason Day’s milestone result at The American Express was somewhat overshadowed by Scottie Scheffler picking up his 20th PGA Tour win.
Scheffler has now won a Tour event in each of the first nine months of the year across his career. He closed out The American Express with a final-round 66, finishing four shots clear of second place.
It marked his first victory at La Quinta, a venue where he hadn’t found much success in previous visits. His best finish before this week had been just outside the top 40.
The tournament also saw the 29-year-old send out an ominous warning to anyone hoping to catch him anytime soon.
Jason Day praises Scottie Scheffler after his victory at the American Express
Jason Day was among those who finished tied for second, marking the 100th time in his career that he has finished inside the top 10 on the PGA Tour.
Having previously held the number one ranking himself, Day spoke after his final round about what stands out most to him about Scheffler’s remarkable consistency.
He said: “I mean, just the patience and not only the belief that he has in his game, but the ability to be able to shake off all the distractions around him. To be able to get on to the golf course and play the way he does.
“Very unorthodox in the way that he swings the club, and it’s not like we’re looking at Tiger, but he’s putting up Tiger-ish numbers, even though Tiger was, you know, obviously the GOAT. But, yeah, I mean just, every time he tees it up he’s right around the lead. And that is one of the most difficult things to do, to always stay hungry to the point of not being satisfied. Because it’s very easy to get satisfied out here.
“You win a couple of times, you’re like, well, I’m kind of relaxed and I can coast for a little bit. And it seems like he never wants to relax. He always does his work, needs to do whatever he needs to do to be able to prepare, and he’s always around the lead. And that’s a very, very difficult thing to do with how much distractions there can be, especially at number one.”
Scottie Scheffler looks set to continue breaking new ground
Scheffler is starting to look like the most legitimate challenger to Tiger Woods’ numbers we have seen since the man himself.
Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth might draw more excitement, but there is a relentless consistency to Scheffler’s game. He does not give anything away, and there’s no course or setup that does not suit him.
There were times on Sunday when you would have been forgiven for thinking that you were watching a repeat of an approach shot the Dallas native had already hit earlier in the round. He was throwing darts at pins and leaving himself a fairly simple task to make birdie.
As Day suggests, it seems that Scheffler’s hunger and desire may be all that stops him in the long run.
The only question left is whether the 29-year-old will simply get bored of winning so often.
