When Collin Morikawa stepped on the ninth tee during the final round of The Tour Championship, it really appeared that he had all of the momentum as the shots between himself and Scottie Scheffler started to evaporate.
Scottie Scheffler began the final day of The Tour Championship with a five shot lead over his countryman, and that lead increased by two within the first two holes, with Collin Morikawa making a bogey on the first and Scheffler following that with a birdie on the second.
However, by the final hole on the front nine, the gap between the two was just two shots, with Sahith Theegala also seemingly in the mix to win at East Lake.
And had Scheffler gone on to lose the finale of the FedEx Cup, many would have likely pointed to one moment on the eighth hole as the real turning point.
Golf fans stunned by what Scottie Scheffler did on the eighth hole during final round at The Tour Championship
Scheffler found himself in the green side bunker after his tee shot. While most amateur golfers would have been terrified by the lake behind the hole, Scheffler was not afraid to take a full swing in the sand. However, few could have imagined what would happen next, with the world number one hitting a shank that left him even further from the green.
The drama was not quite over there as Scheffler’s chip still left him for work to do, and he ended up making a bogey. Morikawa meanwhile, showed plenty of emotion as he holed a decent putt for birdie to close the gap right down.
Unsurprisingly, plenty of golf fans on social media were taken aback by what happened with Scheffler…
@themichaelogle wrote: In about 10 holes this man will have $25 million and can still do this. What a game
@RKalland wrote: terrifying sound out of the bunker
@jfhart2004 wrote: He did that on purpose so viewers wouldn’t tune out- smart! At least that’s what my excuse would be.
@melsando wrote: Yikes
What Scheffler did next was almost more remarkable than his shank
What was remarkable was how quickly Scheffler turned the situation around, with a stunning tee shot on the ninth setting up a birdie, with Morikawa hitting his own shot heavy and having to get up and down to save a par.
That would spark a run of three straight birdies which saw Scheffler take complete command of the tournament again.
Scheffler taking charge of an event is not uncommon, particularly this year, but the fact that he followed two bogeys – and a shank – with three birdies is incredible and shows why some simply cannot get close to the 28-year-old this season.
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