Scottie Scheffler, 25 years old, snatched the number 1 in the world Jon Rahm by winning the final of the World Match Play, Kevin Kisner, also an American, winner of the tournament in 2019 and the golfer who had achieved the most victories (22) since this event moved to its current destination, the Country Club of Austin (Texas).
Scheffler, University of Texas, the local campus in which Jordan Spieth or Kevin Durant also studied, he dominated the final with the ease that he had made the semifinals against Dustin Johnson in the morning. The difference is that against DJ he made a mistake and opened the door for the North Carolina player who went from five down on the 11th hole to one down on the 15th (he ended up winning by 3 and 1) and against Kisner he didn’t miss one. He took the lead on the second hole and his rival did not win a stretch in the entire match. He ended up winning by 4 and 3. He played 15 holes at five under par.
It’s amazing how the young golfer, who is the sixth youngest in history, after Rahm, (25 years and 9 months) to reach number 1, has risen in the last two times after his initial victory in the Phoenix Open. That victory consecrated what analysts had quickly seen: that he is a special player. Nobody hesitated to applaud his choice when Steve Stricker chose him from among his six invitations in the last Ryder Cup, despite leaving out people as established as Patrick Reed.
A great competitor
His response was formidable. He won 2 of the 3 points, including the individual to Rahm (4 and 3). Another example that in this format, through holes, he is a formidable player due to his special ability to make birdies. He had already drawn it in last year’s edition when he was a finalist and lost to Billy Horschel. In the amateur field, Scheffler had already stood out as a stupendous competitor. He had won the Legends Junior Match Play Championship in 2011 and the US Junior in 2013, and, as a member of a team, had lifted the 2012 Junior Ryder Cup, the 2013 Spirit International and the 2017 Walker Cup.
To the victory in Phoenix he has added another title in a month and a half at the Arnold Palmer which catapults his figure to world number 1, since it is guaranteed at least until the Augusta Masters, in two weeks. “It’s a dream to win in front of my friends,” he said.
In the other corner, Kisner, who chews tobacco and does not stop spitting, stood for the third time in the final of the Dell Technologies match play, as it is officially known. And it was the one that offered the least resistance. Without shots that really created advantageous situations for him, even in Scheffler’s mistakes he came out anguished like the putt he had to putt in the 12 from 3 meters after the champion solved a faulty approach, which ended with a third hit in the bunker, putting it from the sand.
Third place went to Canadian Corey Conners who beat Dustin Johnson 3 and 1.
