Scottie Scheffler has been the best at many things this year, and when it was time to wrap it up and secure the win in the PGA Tour's season-long FedEx Cup, he demonstrated one of his great strengths.
Early in the final round, Scheffler's lead had grown to seven strokes over his compatriot Collin Morikawa. But suddenly, Scheffler started to falter. A grossly missed shot on the seventh was followed by a thunderous miss in the form of a "socket" from the bunker on the eighth. Suddenly, the lead had shrunk to two strokes.
But Scheffler is an expert at shaking off his mistakes and bouncing back from bad holes – and he did so again this time.
Three straight birdies
A phenomenal shot directly onto the ninth, in a pressured situation where the large lead was about to slip out of his hands, led to an easy birdie.
On the tenth, another birdie followed. The same on the eleventh. Order was restored.
In the end, the 28-year-old Scheffler could celebrate his first tour final win on East Lake outside Atlanta, Georgia. Scheffler won with a four-stroke margin over Morikawa and another two strokes over third-placed Sahith Theegala, also from the USA.
Scottie Scheffler is completely dominant as the world number one after a season that is the best the golf world has seen since Tiger Woods' glory days.
Just in March and April, Scheffler won four tournaments, including The Players Championship ("the fifth major") and the major US Masters (before Ludvig Åberg).
The spring continued with Scheffler experiencing overwhelming events of all kinds. In May, he became a father for the first time. Later that same month, he was arrested by police just a few hours before the second round of the PGA Championship, following a traffic incident outside the course.
It's hard to put into words how this year has been for me, says Scheffler in the victory interview.
Olympic gold in Paris
The high level of play has continued. Not least at the Olympic Games in Paris, where Scottie Scheffler's incredible finish was enough to take him all the way to gold.
Scheffler started the PGA Tour playoffs as number one and then sat in the driver's seat all the way to the 72nd hole at East Lake – and the staggering prize check of 25 million dollars, equivalent to approximately 255 million kronor.
Ludvig Åberg had to settle for 795,000 dollars (just over eight million kronor), still a decent sum for the Swede's 16th place.
