Bryson DeChambeau once again proved to be a fierce competitor and was frustrated despite finishing second at the PGA Championship. But he also showed his sportsmanship by waiting nearly an hour to congratulate Scottie Scheffler on his victory.
DeChambeau, who started the final round 40 minutes before Scheffler, stayed near the scorecard signing room to congratulate the champion with a brief but emotional phrase:
“I’m proud of you, man. Good job,” he said.
A few minutes earlier, the reigning US Open champion held a press conference, in which he shared his feelings after his performance at the event:
“I’m baffled right now,” he said. “Just felt like things just didn’t go my way this week. Drove it really well. I drove it as good as I can, as of right now, I gave myself a good chance. I just felt like a couple breaks went a different way.”
“Another top five,” he added. “Always proud to top five in a major. I feel like I’m playing good when I’m doing that but I mean, it’s disappointing not to get the job done because that’s what I came here to do.”
DeChambeau carded a final round 70 to move up six spots on the leaderboard to tie for second. Although his performance on Sunday never came close to threatening first place, he still had a chance to finish solo second.
He was 2-under for the round through the 17th hole, a score that would have allowed him to beat Harris English by one stroke. But he bogeyed the 18th, missing the green with his second shot and then missing a 17-foot putt for par that skimmed the edge of the cup.
Getty Images/Kevin C. Cox
However, Quail Hollow was yet another demonstration of DeChambeau’s current exceptional form. This is the second consecutive edition of the PGA Championship in which he has finished as runner-up, having finished just one stroke behind Xander Schauffele a year ago.
It is also his sixth top-10 finish (including a victory) in the last 10 major championships in which he has played.
Scottie Scheffler, meanwhile, started the final round with a three-stroke lead but had to hold on for the title. Jon Rahm made the main charge to challenge the World No. 1 for the title, but eventually couldn’t keep up and slipped to T8.
Rahm was 9 under for the tournament going into the 15th hole on Sunday, while Scheffler had the same score coming off the front nine. But while the Spaniard melted down playing the “Green Mile” (the last three holes of Quail Hollow) for 5-over, the American carded a 2-under on the back nine to finish in even par for the round and win the tournament by five strokes.
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