It feels like we say this every year now, but golf is currently Scottie Scheffler’s world. We’re just living in it. If you were looking for a dramatic, down-to-the-wire finish at the 2025 PGA Championship, you got half of that. We had a brief, heart-stopping moment on Sunday where it looked like the wheels were coming off for the World No. 1. Then, in typical Scottie fashion, he just... stopped missing.
Basically, Scottie Scheffler won the 2025 PGA Championship, finishing at 11-under par to claim his first Wanamaker Trophy.
He didn't just win; he essentially demoralized a field of the best players on earth at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte. It was his third major title and his first outside of Augusta National. But the scoreboard—showing a five-stroke victory over Bryson DeChambeau, Harris English, and Davis Riley—doesn't actually tell the whole story of how stressful that Sunday afternoon actually got.
The Sunday Scare No One Saw Coming
Going into the final round, Scheffler held a three-shot lead. By the fifth hole, that lead had ballooned to five. It felt over. People were probably already changing the channel to see what was on Netflix.
Then, the "lefts" started.
Scottie, who is usually a machine, started tugging his driver. He couldn't find a fairway to save his life on the front nine. He bogeyed the 6th. He bogeyed the 9th. Suddenly, he was turning in 2-over 37, and the door wasn't just open—it was off the hinges.
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While Scottie was struggling, Jon Rahm was playing like a man possessed. Rahm started the day five shots back but birdied the 8th, 10th, and 11th. For exactly 13 minutes, the 2025 PGA Championship was a dead heat. Rahm and Scheffler were tied at 9-under. You could feel the energy shift at Quail Hollow. The crowd was ready for a heavyweight scrap.
And then, Scottie flipped the switch.
He birdied the 10th to take the lead back immediately. While Rahm started to crumble under the pressure of the "Green Mile"—Quail Hollow's brutal finishing stretch—Scheffler went on a "stripe show." He birdied 14. He birdied 15. By the time he walked up the 18th fairway, the lead was back to five. It was a masterclass in mental toughness. Honestly, it was kind of scary how quickly he regained control.
2025 PGA Championship Leaderboard (Final)
| Player | Total Score | To Par |
|---|---|---|
| Scottie Scheffler | 273 | -11 |
| Bryson DeChambeau | 278 | -6 |
| Harris English | 278 | -6 |
| Davis Riley | 278 | -6 |
| J.T. Poston | 279 | -5 |
| Taylor Pendrith | 279 | -5 |
| Jhonattan Vegas | 279 | -5 |
The Rory McIlroy Grand Slam Hangover
You can't talk about who won the 2025 PGA Championship without mentioning the man who everyone thought might win it. Rory McIlroy arrived in Charlotte as the man of the hour. Just weeks prior, he had finally won the Masters to complete the career Grand Slam.
The pressure was supposed to be gone. He was playing at Quail Hollow, a course where he’s won four times. It was the "Rory Invitational" in everyone's minds.
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But golf is a cruel game. Rory looked completely out of sorts from the jump. He opened with a 3-over 74, struggling with the same "left miss" that eventually plagued Scheffler, but Rory never found the fix. He fought back to make the cut, but he was never a factor on the weekend, eventually finishing T46 at 3-over par. It was a reminder that even after the highest of highs, Quail Hollow can still kick your teeth in.
Bryson's Near Miss and the LIV Factor
Bryson DeChambeau continues to be the most interesting man in major championship golf. He didn't win, but he finished T2, marking another huge performance after his 2024 U.S. Open win.
Bryson actually held the lead briefly on Saturday before a disaster at the 17th hole (a double bogey) knocked him back. He shot a steady 1-under 70 on Sunday, which was good enough to climb back into that tie for second, but he simply didn't have the firepower to catch Scottie once the No. 1 player in the world settled down.
Joaquin Niemann and Jon Rahm also kept the LIV Golf flag flying high for most of the week. Rahm’s finish was particularly painful to watch—he went bogey, double-bogey, double-bogey on the final three holes to drop from a share of the lead all the way down to a tie for 8th. That’s the Green Mile for you. It’s relentless.
Why Quail Hollow Changed the Game
The 2025 tournament was the second time the PGA Championship visited Quail Hollow, but it was the first time it was played there in May.
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The course was long. It was wet. The rough was thick.
Jhonattan Vegas was the surprise story early on, leading after the first and second rounds. He shot a 64 on Thursday, which was basically golf from another planet given the conditions. But Quail Hollow is a marathon, not a sprint. By Sunday, the course had firmed up, and the difficulty level spiked.
- The Green Mile: Holes 16, 17, and 18 played as the hardest three-hole stretch on the PGA Tour in 2025.
- Total Distance: Playing at over 7,500 yards, it favored the bombers, which is why you see names like Scheffler, DeChambeau, and Riley at the top.
- The Crowd: Charlotte fans are loud. The atmosphere on the 17th hole rivaled the 16th at Phoenix.
What This Means for Scottie’s Legacy
With this win, Scheffler joined Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as the only players to have a specific kind of dominance early in their careers. He’s the first player since Seve Ballesteros in 1983 to win each of his first three majors by three strokes or more.
He doesn't just win; he buries people.
He’s now halfway to a career Grand Slam. Given how he’s playing, it feels less like a question of "if" and more a question of "when." His ball-striking is statistically at a level we haven't seen since prime Tiger. Even when his putter goes cold—which it did for parts of Friday and Saturday—his ability to hit greens is so superior that he stays in the hunt anyway.
Key Takeaways from the 2025 PGA Championship
If you’re looking to improve your own game based on what we saw at Quail Hollow, there are a few "pro-level" insights to grab:
- Patiently Manage the "Miss": Scottie knew his driver was going left. Instead of panicking, he played for the miss on the back nine, aiming further right and letting it tumble back into the fairway. He didn't try to "fix" his swing mid-round; he managed it.
- The Importance of Lag Putting: On Quail Hollow’s massive, undulating greens, three-putts killed more rounds than water hazards did. Harris English stayed in the hunt primarily because he led the field in "proximity to hole" on his first putts.
- Mental Reset: Rahm let one bad shot on 16 turn into a disaster on 17 and 18. Scheffler let two bogeys on the front nine turn into a birdie on 10. The "reset" is a skill.
Next Steps for Golf Fans:
If you want to keep following the major season, the focus now shifts to the U.S. Open. Keep an eye on the official World Golf Rankings, as Scottie Scheffler’s lead at the top is now mathematically massive. You should also check the Ryder Cup standings; this win essentially locked Scottie in as the spearhead for the U.S. team heading into the next biennial clash.