PGA Championship: How Scottie Scheffler followed Rory McIlroy to major glory and keeps showing 'Tiger Woods levels'

A year on from being arrested and taken to jail mid-tournament during the PGA Championship, Scottie Scheffler enjoyed a happier experience at the same event by storming to major victory.

The world No 1 took a three-shot lead into the final day at Quail Hollow and bounced back from blowing a five-stroke advantage during an eventful Sunday, where a level-par 71 closed out a third major success.

Scheffler's five-shot victory over Bryson DeChambeau, Davis Riley and Harris English was his second win of the season, with the latest triumph seeing him join Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as the only players - in the modern era - to win three majors and 15 PGA Tour titles before turning 29.

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The victory also gives Scheffler the second leg of the career Grand Slam, having already won The Masters twice, plus it extends his advantage over Rory Mcllroy and Xander Schauffele at the top of the rankings.

What fuelled Scheffler's latest victory? Why was his win so impressive? How many more majors will he get and where does he rank compared to golf's all-time greats? We take a closer look at how Scheffler lifted - and dropped the lid - of the Wanamaker Trophy…

Did McIlroy's Grand Slam inspire Scheffler?

McIlroy became just the sixth player to complete the career Grand Slam with his win the previous month at The Masters, where Scheffler finished tied-fourth as he looked to become the first back-to-back winner of the Green Jacket since Woods.

Scheffler responded by claiming his first PGA Tour win of the year with an eight-shot victory at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, before backing it up with the biggest PGA Championship win since McIlroy's eight-shot success in 2012.

"When you see Rory do what he did at The Masters, you get motivated by it," former major champion Rich Beem told Sky Sports. "I would imagine Scheffler sat there watching and thought 'I want a piece of that'.

"The only way he gets a piece of that is by winning more majors. I think what Rory did motivated a lot of guys - with Bryson [DeChambeau] and [Jon] Rahm two others high on that list, and Xander [Schauffele] too. Those players aren't too far away from a third leg on the Grand Slam."

When asked about his career goals, Scheffler said: "I don't focus on that kind of stuff. I love coming out here and trying to compete and win golf tournaments, and that's what I'm focused on. It's an endless pursuit, and it's a lot of fun. It's definitely one of the great joys of my life to be able to compete out here."

How 'idiot' caddie helped Scheffler fightback

Scheffler mixed one birdie with three bogeys in a front-nine 37 on the final day, where he struggled off the tee and allowed the chasing pack back into the tournament, before a conversation with caddie Ted Scott inspired an improved display on the back nine.

"He was hitting everything left [on the front nine], and he asked 'do you see anything?'," Scott told Golf Channel. "I said the swing looked good, so maybe just aim right? I was just being an idiot... and then he stepped up on 10 and hit a great drive.

"He started hitting it great, started feeling good and knowing where the ball was going. It was back to Scottie Scheffler golf and I was like 'here we go, baby!'. It's hard when coming out with a big lead, and it's kind of quiet, for you to get even more ahead.

"Great players can sometimes maybe play a little too conservative until somebody starts pushing them enough. He [Scheffler] started making some birdies, got ahead again and the rest is history I guess.

"From last year to this year, there's a lot of expectations. This game is more about the mind than anything else. So I'd say the greatest gift he has is his mental thought process."

Scheffler's 'work of art' closed out major title

The overnight leader opened his back nine with a birdie at the par-five 10th and made back-to-back gains from the 14th, giving him full control of the tournament heading into Quail Hollow's notorious 'Green Mile' closing stretch.

"Everybody was throwing haymakers at him on that front nine," Beem added. "He sat there and took a couple of them but then, all of a sudden, he just started jabbing his way back into this championship.

"At the very end he wore out not only the rest of the field but the golf course as well. He just played as solid as anybody possibly could over those final nine holes - it was a work of art."

Scheffler himself said: "I knew it was going to be a challenging day. Finishing off a major championship is always difficult, and I did a good job of staying patient on the front nine. I didn't have my best stuff, but I kept myself in it and I stepped up on the back nine."

From jail to Quail Hollow glory

Scheffler's success came 12 months on from being arrested ahead of his second round at Valhalla, where he was detained by police after attempting to get around traffic - caused by a fatal accident - outside of the course.

A mugshot of Scheffler quickly spread over social media last May, with the American eventually released in time for him to make his second-round tee time and all charges subsequently dropped later that month.

"I definitely have a few jokes that I want to say that I'm probably going to keep to myself," Scheffler joked after his victory, having finished tied-eighth the previous year. "Last year sometimes, still doesn't almost feel real. It really doesn't.

"It's just one of those deals that I really don't know how to describe it. But I can tell you it's very sweet sitting here with the trophy this year."

How close is Scheffler to Tiger levels?

Scheffler's latest victory moved him above McIlroy to the top of the PGA Tour's FedExCup standings, where he has ended each of the previous three regular seasons, with Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee believing he continues to perform at levels not seen since Woods.

"Scheffler is on his way to becoming one of the greatest players of all time," Chamblee said. "There has been no other player that has blended this level of proficiency and consistency in the strokes-gained era, besides Tiger Woods.

"For the third year in a row he leads strokes gained approach, gaining more than a stroke per round on the field - only Tiger Woods has done that. For the third year in a row, he leads strokes total - picking up more than 2.3 strokes per round on the field -only Tiger Woods has done that.

"Other notable aspects of his game are, that he, not Rory McIlroy, is the best driver of the golf ball on the PGA Tour. He accomplishes not with jaw-dropping power, but with a combination of power and precision."

More majors to come for 'real deal' Scheffler?

Scheffler will return to Oakmont for the US Open as a heavy favourite to win back-to-back major titles next month, live on Sky Sports, the venue where he made his debut as a 19-year-old amateur in 2016 and a tournament he has finished inside the top seven in three of the past four editions.

"This guy can go anywhere and win, any championship," Sky Sports' Wayne 'Radar' Riley said. "He's not one-dimensional. He's such a shot-maker. He's an incredibly-talented, smart player, and he misses the ball in the right spot all the time.

"Rory has completed the career Grand Slam at The Masters and I always thought he'd end up with eight [majors]. We also have a young man in Scheffler who has three majors - has he got a 10-major career in him? He's the real deal mentally."

US Open victory would see him have the opportunity to complete the career Grand Slam at The Open later this summer at Royal Portrush, while Scheffler will play a key role in Team USA's hopes of regaining the Ryder Cup on American soil at Bethpage Black in September.

"He [Scheffler] continues to be the bar we all are chasing," said Justin Thomas, a likely team-mate of Scheffler in New York, having described the win as "another dominant and inspiring performance". The wave of Scheffler success shows no sign of stopping any time soon.

Watch Scottie Scheffler in action throughout the season live on Sky Sports. Scheffler returns to action at the Charles Schwab Challenge, live from Thursday on Sky Sports Golf. Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract on NOW.

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