Xander Schauffele performed brilliantly in the third round of the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. He fired a 7 under par 65 and he thought he was in a great position to finish off the tournament on Sunday and take home the title of the tournament that is largely regarded as sport's fifth major championship.
Xander Schauffele now has 13 runner-up finishes on the PGA Tour pic.twitter.com/I2n61oJhfK
— Christopher Powers (@CPowers14) March 17, 2024
Unfortunately for Schauffele, he was unable to match his third-round performance. He shot a tw0-under 70, and while that was a solid performance, it was not good enough to bring home the title and the $4.5 million prize that went with it.
That honor and the cash prize went to the sport's hottest performer Scottie Scheffler. Despite playing with a sore neck, Scheffler fired a remarkable 8 under par 64 and took the title by one stroke over Schauffele, Brian Harman and Wyndham Clark. Scheffler shot a 20-under score of 278, while Schauffele, Harman and Clark all shot 279.
All three of those players had a chance to tie Scheffler on the final hole if any of them could have made a birdie on the par-4 18th hole. Clark ended up having the best shot at the birdie, but his final putt went halfway down the hole before taking a 180-degree turn and staying on the dance floor.
Xander Schauffele was heartbroken that he was unable to fend off Scheffler and win the tournament. He is known for his outstanding play but regularly finishing second. He has 13 runner-up finishes in his career.
“These suck,” Schauffele said of his history of close calls. “When I went to bed last night, it's not exactly how I envisioned walking off the 18th green.”
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