Scottie Scheffler warms up for Ryder Cup by winning for the 6th time this year
NAPA Calif AP Scottie Scheffler demanded to stay sharp ahead of the Ryder Cup and the world s No competitor looked every bit of that Sunday closing with a -under to win the Procore Championship for his sixth PGA Tour accomplishment of the year Scheffler made up a two-shot deficit on Ryder Cup teammate Ben Griffin who was poised to force a playoff until he three-putted the par- th from feet for par to finish one behind Griffin who started the final round with three straight birdies shot a He had a birdie putt from feet on the th that caught the left edge and spun away It was the second time this year he has finished runner-up to the world s No participant Scheffler was one of the players who earlier in the year targeted the Procore Championship as a good spot for the Ryder Cup organization to play so they could avoid the mistake of two years ago when all but two of them had a month off before the Rome matches But once the tournament started Scheffler was all about winning I know I was going to have to have another good day declared Scheffler who made up eight shots on Griffin over the weekend with a - finish I m fortunate to be the winner this week It was his th career supremacy on the PGA Tour and now he heads to match play in the Ryder Cup against Europe which has had the upper hand in these matches the last three decades Lanto Griffin had as much pressure as anyone coming into the Fall portion of the schedule at No in the FedEx Cup in the first year of only players keeping full cards He delivered a to finish alone in third his best finish in nearly four years That moved him up to No in the standings with two months and at least five tournaments to go It s huge Griffin stated One of my goals this week was to give myself a chance I kind of wish Scottie wasn t here but I m sure the fans enjoyed it There were plenty of fans the largest crowd Silverado has seen since the tournament moved to wine country in And majority of them were with Scheffler who joined Tiger Woods as the only players to have at least six wins in back-to-back seasons in the last years Scheffler started two shots behind and fell as a great number of as four shots back early before pecking away with four birdies on the opening holes After a careless three-putt bogey from feet on the th he answered with two birdies on the par s to take the lead when Griffin struggled to get anything going But Griffin who has two official PGA Tour titles in this breakthrough season had his chances He holed a -foot birdie putt on the par- th and burned the edge with two long birdie putts on the next two holes He was on the edge of the green feet away for an eagle putt two putts needed for a playoff and couldn t get it done Auburn junior Jackson Koivun the No amateur in the world who played in the final group was two shots behind with seven holes to play when he took a soft bogey on the par- th and then bogeyed the th when he went long of the green Koivun closed with a and tied for fourth with Emiliano Grillo It was Koivun s fourth consecutive finish at th of better on the PGA Tour and he gets in the Sanderson Farms Championship in three weeks unless the -year-old has other plans at school The tournament had its strongest field with the all but two players from the U S Ryder Cup squad playing ahead of the Sept - matches at Bethpage Black U S captain Keegan Bradley was at Silverado through Friday and the PGA of America rented a mansion for them to meet during the week a Ryder Cup crew room amidst the vineyards Scheffler Griffin U S Open champion J J Spaun and Cameron Young all finished in the top Sam Burns who holed out from the th fairway for eagle for a and Russell Henley finished in the top AP golf https apnews com hub golf Source
