Day: March 27, 2022

Scottie Scheffler becomes fifth Korn Ferry Tour graduate to reach world No. 1Scottie Scheffler becomes fifth Korn Ferry Tour graduate to reach world No. 1

Scottie Scheffler assumed the No. 1 spot on the Official World Golf Ranking with a victory at the 2022 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, his triumph at Austin CC including a Sunday Semifinal win over Dustin Johnson and a 4-and-3 defeat of Kevin Kisner in the Final. The University of Texas alum has won three times in his last five TOUR starts; after breaking through for his maiden TOUR title at the WM Phoenix Open in February, he proceeded to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard in early March, followed by his match play triumph in front of adoring fans on Sunday afternoon, just 10 miles from his college stomping grounds. Scheffler earned his first PGA TOUR card via the 2019 Korn Ferry Tour, in a season that included victories at the Evans Scholars Invitational and Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship. He won the season-long Points List (The 25) as well as the Korn Ferry Tour Finals Points List (The Finals 25) to earn fully exempt status on the 2019-20 PGA TOUR. He hasn’t looked back. Scheffler’s spot on the Korn Ferry Tour was not a given, and he never took it for granted. After advancing through First and Second Stages of the 2018 Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament, he needed an up-and-down from right of the green on the 72nd hole at Final Stage of Q-School just to finish inside the top-40 and ties, the cut line to secure guaranteed starts in 2019. He chipped to near tap-in range, unleashing an intense fist pump that signified he knew the stakes. When asked ahead of this month’s PLAYERS Championship if he could recall an up-and-down more memorable than his effort to win at Bay Hill the week prior, he thought back to Korn Ferry Tour Q-School. “I would say I probably felt more pressure over that one than I did at Bay Hill, because you’re fighting for your career,” Scheffler said. “All I have to do is par 18 … I hit it right down the middle, 125 yards to the pin, and I hit the worst wedge shot I’ve hit in my entire life, like a snap-hook, 150-yard shot that went 25 yards from the pin. I was on a downslope chipping back to the green, and I’m like, ‘How did I end up here?’ “There’s all that pressure of what I’m going to do the next year, and those thoughts start coming in, and I ended up chipping it pretty close and tapping it in. “I would say on that one, I probably felt a little more pressure.” Scheffler now becomes the fifth Korn Ferry Tour graduate to assume the No. 1 spot on the Official World Golf Ranking, joining Tom Lehman, David Duval, Jason Day and Justin Thomas. At just 25 years of age, the sky’s the limit for the New Jersey native-turned Texan, who clutched up at Q-School when he needed it most.

Click here to read the full article…