The Players Championship showed just why they call it the fifth major with some extraordinary drama and golf of the highest quality at the weekend.
Records were broken, there were exemplary performances from a number of players and the finish – which saw three men head down the stretch within a shot of leader Scottie Scheffler – was the best I’ve seen in donkey’s years.
Scheffler won it in the end, making it back-to-back wins on the PGA Tour and becoming the first man to successfully defend the Players Championship in its 50-year history.
He looked every inch the world No1 with a performance of real class – and all despite needing treatment for a neck injury.
After a fabulous first round, on Friday he called for the trainer – which usually means something is seriously wrong – but he held it together and seemed to feel better on Saturday, when he got within five shots of the leaders.
Scheffler then made a slow start to the final round but an eagle at the fourth lit the fuse and off he went. He was magnificent in taking the clubhouse lead on 20 under par, completing a sequence of 31 holes without dropping a shot.
Right behind him, Xander Schauffele had looked a likely winner until successive bogeys at 14 and 15. He recovered with a birdie at the next but aimed his birdie putt at 17 just a little too far to the left, and compounded that miss by hitting his tee shot at 18 into the pine straw.
It wasn’t to be for Schauffele, but also chasing Scheffler were the current Open and US Open champions, Brian Harman and Wyndham Clark.
Clark was unlucky with an eagle putt at 16 but, after a sublime birdie at 17, worse was to come at the last. Needing a birdie to force a play-off, his putt looked so sure to go in that he made a fateful step forward, ready to punch the air – only for it to somehow horseshoe out.
Scheffler deserved the win, though. He was remarkable again, and the excitement at what he was about to achieve written all over his face as he walked the last hole was wonderful to see. There is no question about it; he is the man to beat right now.
England’s Matt Fitzpatrick had a good week and, with four straight birdies, a very strong finish. Plenty went wrong for him during the four days but he kept fighting and finished fifth.
Ludvig Aberg was also very good on what was his debut at the Players. The young Swede, who was eighth, is so elegant and takes it all – good and bad – in his stride, which is refreshing.
Clark was unlucky to miss out on a playoff with Scheffler at the Players Championship
With just three more events before the Masters, former Augusta champion Hideki Matsuyama looks back to top form. He won in LA last month and shared sixth at Sawgrass, so he’s warming up nicely for another shot at the Green Jacket.
It wasn’t just Scheffler breaking records, however; Rory McIlroy’s 25 birdies set a new benchmark for the Players, yet he had to settle for nine under par and a tie for 19th.
McIlroy was both magnificent and disappointing in many ways last week, and kept hitting it in the water.
I think it’s a result of frustration; he knows he’s capable of playing every shot possible perfectly, but it is not happening for him at the moment. When it does he’ll be back up there with Scheffler.
Men’s professional golf is going through a period of change but a fantastic Players Championship showed that the PGA Tour is still setting a very high bar.
Sam Torrance OBE is a former Ryder Cup-winning captain and one of Europe’s most successful golfers. Follow him @torrancesam