World No. 2 Scotty Scheffler (USA) and No. 3 John Rahm (Spain) entered the final match to win the Phoenix Open and win the world No. 1 spot. Current world No. 1 Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) was in danger of coming down from the top in four months.
Scotty Scheffler (USA) made a birdie in the 3rd round of the US Professional Golf (PGA) Tour WM Phoenix Open (total prize money of 20 million dollars) held at the TPC Scottsdale (par 71, 7261 yards) Stadium Course in Scottsdale, Arizona, USA on the 12th. He reduced 3 strokes with 4 strokes and 1 bogey and took the lead for two days in a row with a total of 13 under par and 200 strokes. Schaeffler, who won his first PGA Tour debut at this tournament last year and climbed to 4 wins in the season and 1st in the world by driving shockwaves, wins the tournament and achieves 5 wins in 10 months since the 2022 Masters Tournament (April) along with 2 consecutive losses. do.
Schaeffler, who will regain world No. 1 if he succeeds in defending his title and McIlroy scores below the single third place, expressed his confidence by saying, “A two-stroke lead is a good position to win,” and said, “It feels good.”
Ram is aiming for a come-from-behind victory. Ram, who reduced 3 strokes with 4 birdies and 1 bogey in the 3rd round and tied for 2nd place with Nick Taylor (Canada) with a total of 11 under par 202 strokes, won 3 wins this year and 10 wins on the PGA Tour, following Sentry Tournament of Champions and American Express last month Ahead of notice Ram, who will return to world No. 1 if he succeeds in a come-from-behind win and McIlroy falls below a tie for second place with three players, promised the final day, saying, “It was good to have a lucky birdie putt in the 16th hole (par 3).”
On the other hand, McIlroy could not make up for the sluggish performance of losing two strokes in the first round and tied for 28th (3 under par 210 strokes) until the third round.
Two players, including former world No. 1 Jordan Spieth (USA), tied for 4th (10 under par, 203 strokes), followed by Lim Seong-jae, Jason Day (Australia), Rickie Fowler, and Zander Shopley (USA) tied for 6th. Lim Seong-jae, who is four strokes behind the leading Schaeffler, will challenge for three wins in his career after winning the Shriners Children’s Open in 2021. 메이저놀이터
Even if Schaeffler and Ram do not win, the possibility of a change to world No. 1 remains. If Schaeffler comes in second alone, McIlroy falls below 36th, and if Rahm does not win, Schaeffler becomes first. If Rahm comes in second alone, McIlroy ranks lower than 47th, and if Schaeffler does not win, Rahm rises to first.
On this day, the rest of the second round and the third round were played together, and all four Korean players succeeded in passing the cut and cruised. Kim Si-woo (28) reduced 4 strokes with 5 birdies and 1 bogey in the 3rd round and rose to a tie for 20th place (5 under par 208 strokes), and Kim Joo-hyung (21) scored 2 strokes with 1 birdie, 1 bogey and 1 double bogey. Due to the loss, he fell 19 places to a tie for 28th (3 under par, 210 strokes). Lee Gyeong-hoon (32) is tied for 48th (1 under par 212 strokes).