Scottie Scheffler ran away from the field at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, beating Erik van Rooyen by eight strokes, and captured his first win of the season and 14th of his career. In his hometown of Dallas, no less.
For the 15th time in his career, Scheffler held a 54-hole lead/co-lead; he converted nine of those 15 into victories. After a third round of five-under-66, Scheffler took an eight-shot lead into the final round, the biggest 54-hole lead since Rory McIlroy in the 2011 U.S. Open.
After the opening nine holes of the final round, Scheffler held onto his eight-shot lead over van Rooyen. On the back nine, Scheffler shot 33, with just one blemish on the scorecard in the form of a bogey on the 17th hole. Scheffler finished up by matching the low 72-hole score of 253, tying Justin Thomas and Ludvig Aberg.
With this victory, Scheffler became the first wire-to-wire winner on the PGA Tour since Lee Hodges in the 2023 3M Open. He joins Mark Hayes and Tom Watson as the only wire-to-wire winners of the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. Perhaps even more impressively, this is his fourth consecutive season with at least one win.
Meanwhile, Jordan Spieth closed with a round of 9-under-62, tying his career-low round on the PGA Tour. His bogey-free round propelled him to a fourth-place finish.
Next week, the PGA Tour has two scheduled events. The Truist Championship (formerly known as the Wells Fargo Championship) is on at Philadelphia Cricket Club while its usual site, Quail Hollow, is getting set for the PGA Championship in two weeks. The other event is the ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic, where Chris Gotterup will look to defend his title.
