NAPA, Calif. (AP) — Scottie Scheffler wanted to stay sharp ahead of the Ryder Cup and the world’s No. 1 player looked every bit of that Sunday, closing with a 5-under 67 to win the Procore Championship for his sixth PGA Tour victory of the year.
Scheffler made up a two-shot deficit on Ryder Cup teammate Ben Griffin, who was poised to force a playoff until he three-putted the par-5 18th from 60 feet for par to finish one behind.
Griffin, who started the final round with three straight birdies, shot a 70. He had a birdie putt from 5 feet on the 18th that caught the left edge and spun away. It was the second time this year he has finished runner-up to the world’s No. 1 player.
Scheffler was one of the players who earlier in the year targeted the Procore Championship as a good spot for the Ryder Cup team to play so they could avoid the mistake of two years ago when all but two of them had a month off before the Rome matches.
But once the tournament started, Scheffler was all about winning.
“I know I was going to have to have another good day,” said Scheffler, who made up eight shots on Griffin over the weekend with a 64-67 finish. “I’m fortunate to be the winner this week.”
It was his 19th career victory on the PGA Tour, and now he heads to match play in the Ryder Cup against Europe, which has had the upper hand in these matches the last three decades.
Lanto Griffin had as much pressure as anyone, coming into the Fall portion of the schedule at No. 142 in the FedEx Cup in the first year of only 100 players keeping full cards.
He delivered a 65 to finish alone in third, his best finish in nearly four years. That moved him up to No. 100 in the standings with two months and at least five tournaments to go.
“It’s huge,” Griffin said. “One of my goals this week was to give myself a chance. … I kind of wish Scottie wasn’t here, but I’m sure the fans enjoyed it.”
There were plenty of fans, the largest crowd Silverado has seen since the tournament moved to wine country in 2014. And most of them were with Scheffler, who joined Tiger Woods as the only players to have at least six wins in back-to-back seasons in the last 40 years.
Scheffler started two shots behind and fell as many as four shots back early before pecking away with four birdies on the opening 10 holes.
After a careless three-putt bogey from 15 feet on the 11th, he answered with two birdies on the par 5s to take the lead when Griffin struggled to get anything going.
But Griffin, who has two official PGA Tour titles in this breakthrough season, had his chances. He holed a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-5 15th and burned the edge with two long birdie putts on the next two holes. He was on the edge of the green, 60 feet away for an eagle putt, two putts needed for a playoff, and couldn’t get it done.
Auburn junior Jackson Koivun, the No. 1 amateur in the world who played in the final group, was two shots behind with seven holes to play when he took a soft bogey on the par-5 12th and then bogeyed the 13th when he went long of the green.
Koivun closed with a 71 and tied for fourth with Emiliano Grillo (66). It was Koivun’s fourth consecutive finish at 11th of better on the PGA Tour, and he gets in the Sanderson Farms Championship in three weeks unless the 20-year-old has other plans at school.
The tournament had its strongest field with the all but two players from the U.S. Ryder Cup team playing ahead of the Sept. 26-28 matches at Bethpage Black. U.S. captain Keegan Bradley was at Silverado through Friday, and the PGA of America rented a mansion for them to meet during the week, a Ryder Cup team room amidst the vineyards.
Scheffler, Griffin, U.S. Open champion J.J. Spaun (66) and Cameron Young (67), all finished in the top 10. Sam Burns, who holed out from the 18th fairway for eagle for a 67, and Russell Henley (72) finished in the top 20.
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