CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A year and a day after his booked mug shot became a lasting image of the PGA Championship, Scotty Schaeffler was raising the Wanamaker trophy for everyone to watch Sunday as the world’s No. 1 golfer won his third career major at the Quiz Hollow Club.
Schaeffler announced an even par 71 with five-stroke wins over Harris English, Bryson Deccanbaugh and Davis Riley in the final round of the 107th PGA Championship. Schaeffler made a turn and joined with Spain’s John Lahm on a slow, damp afternoon, so for at least a moment what was thought to have been inevitable at the beginning of the day began to escape.
But then, Schaeffler stepped on the back nine gas, as he had done many times before. Rahm collapsed into the “Green Mile.”
After making the final putt, Schaeffler threw his arms into the air as the crowd chanted his name. He put on a hat on green. He finds his wife, Meredith, and son, Bennett. His father, Scott, told him: “The words can’t explain what we witnessed. You are very tough. We are very proud of you.”
“A lot of happiness,” Schaeffler said. “You know, maybe I’m grateful. It was a long week. I found it as difficult as fighting for tournaments in my career. It was a pretty challenging week.”
In just 366 days, Schaeffler’s story was to add a Wannamaker trophy to an already notable career, including two Masters Green Jackets, from handcuffs behind a squad car.
“It’s definitely very sweet to be sitting here with the trophy,” Schaeffler said. “I definitely have some jokes. I want to say I’m probably going to protect myself.”
Schaeffler joined Seve Ballesteros as the only golfer in the last 100 years, earning each of the first three majors with three or more strokes. He won the 2022 Masters at age 3 with Rory McIlroy and Rudig Åberg in the 2024 Masters.
This was the 15th PGA Tour victory for 28-year-old Schaeffler. Since World War II, only two other golfers have won 15 times on the tour, and by the age of 29 he has captured three majors. Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.
Schaeffler struggled with the driver on the front nine, hitting only two of his first seven fairways. He didn’t look much on birdie as there were too many shots left from the deep rough.
He acknowledged that the American Golf Association deemed the driver a non-conforming test in Tuesday’s test.
But Schaeffler said having a new driver is not a problem on Sunday. It was his swing.
“I think that was my fault,” Schaeffler said.
On the turn, Caddited Scott offered him some simple advice.
“He was slamming everything that was left, and he was like, ‘Do you see something?'” Scott said.
Scott’s response to Schaeffler: “The swing looks good, but everything remains. Maybe turn it to the right.”
“I was trying to be a fool and I was trying to see what happened,” Scott told reporters after the round. “And he stepped up at 10 and had a great drive, and I said, ‘He’s there.’ That’s the only thing I told him.
“Then he started pounding it well, feeling good and comfortable, he started to know where the ball was heading.
After wasting a three-stroke lead, Schaeffler retrieved it with a 9-foot birdie putt on No. 10. He went ahead of the two with a seven-footer on No. 14 and led three times when Rahm made his first bogey of the round on No. 16.
Another birdie on the 15th gave Schaeffler a four-shot cushion heading for the “Green Mile.” It grows to 5 before he reaches the 16th green.
“This back nine will be something I will remember for a long time,” Schaeffler said. “It was a grind there. At some point on the front, I think I had a lead of maybe four or five shots and I made a turn. I think I was tied up by the lead.
Rahm was tied with Schaeffler at 9am after hole 12. He’s Nos. I watched birdies on 13 and 14, but missed both. After making a par on the 15th, Rahm hit a tee shot on the left of the par 4 16th way, leading to a bogey.
On the par 3 17th, his tee shot bounced from green into the water, making him a double bogey five. In the final hole he hit a drive into the stream on the left, leading to another double bogey. He was over 5 in his last three holes and tied up at 4 under 8th.
It was a disappointing finish for the two-time major champions who hadn’t made it to the mix in the majors since finishing second in the open in 2023.
“Are you a little embarrassed about how you can finish today?” Rahm said. “Yeah, but I need to get through it and get through myself. That’s not the end of the world.”
Schaeffler reached the turn with 2 over 37. His advantage has become one on Ram.
Larm, who started a round five shot behind Schaeffler, was wild from the tee and found only two of his first 10 fairways. However, he only needed 13 putts in the first 11 holes. It was beautifully lacking when I missed the green and avoided a bogey.
It felt a much different to Schaeffler’s last year’s PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky.
On May 17, 2024, Schaeffler found himself behind a squad car after a Louisville metro police officer said he tried to drive a crashed scene at the median, beating his order to stop the golfer. Traffic outside the golf course had stopped after a man was hit and killed on a shuttle bus around 5am.
Detective Brian Gillis dragged him “to the ground” and said he was “swelling, scuffing, “swelling, scuffing,” after Schaeffler’s car “accelerated forward.”
Schaeffler was charged with felony assault and several misdemeanors. However, 12 days after his arrest, Jefferson County Attorney Mike O’Connell dropped the charges against Schaeffler, saying evidence supported the golfer’s characterization of the case as a “big misunderstanding.”
Schaeffler, who entered the PGA Championship last year, has won four of his last five starts, including the second master’s victory in April. After being booked at Downtown Detention Center, he was released on bonds an hour and a half before his second tee time.
For some reason, Schaeffler posted a 5-under 66 that day. He slid to 2 over 73 in the third round, knocking him out of the hunt. He bouncing off with 65 on Sunday, finishing eighth at 13 under, tied an eight-stroke behind winner Xander Schauffele.
On Sunday, he added another chapter to his growing legacy.
“Last year, sometimes it still doesn’t feel real,” Schaeffler said. “It’s not really that way. It’s one of those deals that really doesn’t know how to explain it. But I can say that sitting with the trophy this year is so sweet.
“That’s a pretty sweet feeling.”
