Connect with us

Entertainment

Scottie Scheffler vindicates OWGR by doing something Rory McIlroy couldn’t

Published

on

Multiple major champions Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler both endured difficult moving days at the Genesis Invitational, but the latter managed to bounce back on Sunday

Scottie Scheffler may have delivered his poorest golf round in nearly three years during the Genesis Invitational on Saturday, but he still managed to rally for a joint-third place finish.

In fact, the world No. 1’s 4-over par finish in the third round, marked by three bogeys, was the first time he had multiple bogeys on the same nine in almost 2,000 days, last stumbling into this pitfall at Sanderson Farms in 2019. On the day, Scheffler lost 3.893 strokes on the greens and only managed four successful scrambles out of seven attempts.

He also lost over half a stroke off the tee and made just 34 feet of putts. Rory McIlroy also struggled on moving day, making only 55 feet of putts. The Northern Irishman hit a mere 5 of 14 fairways and lost 3.905 shots on the greens, marking his worst single-round performance in that category on the PGA Tour in a decade.

The four-time major champion had several early chances to make a strong start, but he missed an 8-foot putt for birdie at no. 2 and a 13-foot putt for birdie at no. 3. This was followed by bogeys at the par-5 sixth and par-3 eighth before finally scoring his first birdie at no. 9.

McIlroy’s performance didn’t improve on the back nine, missing a promising five-foot birdie putt on the par-5 14th and stumbling with a double bogey on the par-3 16th. After failing to sink a three-footer for bogey, he finished Saturday with a 2-over 74, which positioned him at 3-under for the tournament and trailing the 54-hole leader Patrick Rodgers by five strokes.

Both Scheffler and McIlroy seemed out of contention come Sunday, yet it was Scheffler who managed to claw back some dignity, tying third with Rodgers after sinking two chips during a six-under 66 round. McIlroy, on the other hand, saw his thin title hopes dashed with an opening-hole bogey and struggled throughout the day, carding a level-par 72 that left him tied for 17th.

Trending