Dominant Scheffler breaks bunch of records on way to second World Challenge victory

Albany [Bahamas], December 10 : Scottie Scheffler grabbed back a share of the lead at the World Challenge very early in the final round and then never looked back. With a final round nine-under 63, he totalled 25-under to complete a commanding win, his second in a row at the Albany Golf Club.
Scheffler won by six shots over Tom Kim, and it was the largest winning margin at Albany Golf Club and the biggest in the tournament history since the 10-shot margin of victory achieved by Jordan Spieth in 2014 at Isleworth.
For the second time in as many years, Scheffler received the Trophy from the host Tiger Woods and Pawan Munjal, Executive Chairman of Hero MotoCorp.
Scheffler carded 67-64-69-62 as his nearest rivals Kim (68) and Justin Thomas (71), who at one stage on the final day either shared the lead or were just one behind, faded away towards the end.
"Winning the Hero (World Challenge), which is Tiger's event, is pretty special," said Scheffler. "it feels nice. We did a lot of good things on the golf course this week, played some solid golf. I think only two bogeys for the week and then I made a good amount of birdies. Eliminating the mistakes and making a good amount of birdies is always helpful."
Kim, who on the third day, had even led ever so briefly finished second at 19-under after being T-18 at the end of the first day.
Thomas, whose four previous visits to HWC produced Top-5 results was once again in Top-5 at sole third, but he could hardly have been happy on the day he kept missing on the final day and never found the momentum.
Debutant Indian-American Akshay Bhatia (69) missed a whole lot of putts on the final day to finish fourth at 15-under and Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley (71) was 14-under and fifth.
Sahith Theegala (74) was eighth and Indo-British Aaron Rai (70) was T-14.
After two runner-up finishes in 2021 and 2022, Scheffler in 2023 admitted he was thrilled to have played and won the Trophy he received from Woods himself. That joy was once again unmistakable as he received the Trophy, with a Tiger resting on top of a globe, from Dr Munjal and Woods for the second straight time.
Scheffler equalled the best-ever winning total of 25-under at Albany Golf Club set by Bubba Watson in 2015 but it fell one short of the best-ever HWC winning aggregate achieved by Jordan Spieth at Isleworth in 2014, the year Hero took over the title sponsorship of the event.
Scheffler kept the record keepers busy. His previous three visits produced two runner-up finishes and a win in 2023. With the latest win, he became the third player after Tiger Woods (2006-2007) and Viktor Hovland (2021-2022) to win back-to-back HWC titles.
His 63 was his best in 16 rounds at HWC and he has never shot at over par round at the event, where 14 of his 16 rounds have been in the sixties. His total in 16 rounds at HWC is now 76-under.
Scheffler had just two bogeys in 72 holes, which he said was one of the highlights of the week and he was bogey-free for a 40-hole stretch from the eighth hole on the first day to the 13th on the third day. He was bogey-free on the first and final days.
The HWC triumph took Scheffler's tally of wins to nine in 2024. It includes a second Green Jacket at Augusta National, the PLAYERS and the Olympic gold medal. "Those three will have to be my best ones for the season and the back nine on the final day at the Olympics was special," said Scheffler, who was 7-under for the final nine at the Paris Olympics.
"I never really played golf for legacy, that's not something I think about day to day. I play because I love the competition, I love coming out here and competing. I like trying to get the most out of myself out here on the golf course. That's why I'm always trying to improve, trying to do little things to get better. I don't think about records, I don't think about achievements, wins, losses, I just try and get the most out of myself and come out here and compete and have a good attitude."
With the Player of the Year Award for 2024 being a certainty, Scheffler will become the first player since Tiger Woods (2005-07) to win the award for the third straight season.
Scheffler may have started the final day one shot behind Thomas but once he took the lead again after the third when with three birdies in the first four holes, there was little likelihood of chance of anyone else taking the Trophy.
Scheffler picked birdies on the first, third and fourth and the next one came on the ninth as he turned in 4-under. He led by a shot or two and then as the tournament entered the final stretch, the gap kept widening,
Scheffler birdied the tenth and picked three more in four holes between the 13th and the 16th and finally closed with a birdie on the 18th for a back nine of 31 and a total of 63.
Kim had six birdies against two bogeys and Thomas had a roller-coaster of a day with five birdies and four bogeys, two of which came in the first holes and another two came in the last three holes and never got the momentum as Scheffler simply ran away from the field.
Kim said, "Yeah, it was a good last three days I would say. Thursday wasn't that fun, but it was rewarding to finish the way I finished. Definitely happy walking away with -- not really happy with second, but walking away with a lot of positives."
Kim, who is very close to Scheffler, was very appreciative of the champion, who treats him like a 'little brother'. Kim said, "He wins 95 percent of the time. You know, after he's become a dad we haven't been able to hang out as much, but just if we have time, he'll text me and I'll ask him. But again, he's become a dad, so things have changed. I'm so happy for him. He's won nine times this year, he's made history. I can't wait to go out there and give him a hug."