Scottie Scheffler defends 2023 WM Phoenix Open title, set to return to World No. 1

Scottie Scheffler successfully defended his WM Phoenix Open title on Sunday, February 12. He secured the lead on Saturday and extended it the following day.

The 26-year-old registered a two-shot lead over Nick Taylor. After the third round, Taylor and Jon Rahm shared the second position. However, in the final round, Taylor took the lead over the World No. 3.

A bogey-free 65 in the thrilling final round helped Scheffler retain his trophy and take home $3.6 million in prize money.

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The 26-year-old Texas native held off a star-studded leaderboard at the 2023 WM Phoenix Open. Speaking at the winner's conference, he said:

“I knew it was going to take a great round. Nobody was going to give this golf tournament to me. I had to go out and earn it. I was definitely proud of the result.”

The win also helped lift him to the top of the official world golf rankings, surpassing Northern Irish golfer Rory McIlroy.

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Canadian golfer Nick Taylor did his best to beat the defending champion. He matched Scheffler with 65 but was left behind by two strokes to finish second, and took home $2.1 million — the biggest check of his career yet.

“I played great today. I felt like I didn’t really make any mistakes maybe until 16,” Nick said in an interview. “I would love the chip back. I felt like that was one I could potentially hole. It was still a tricky chip, but one I would like to do little bit better.”

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Justin Thomas finished in fourth position just ahead of Jason Day while Sam Burns, Sungjae Im, Jordan Spieth, and Tyrell Hatton were tied for sixth position.

McIlroy, who was at T28 after the third round, slipped down to T32 to finish in a seven-way tie alongside James Hahn, Billy Horschel, Matt Kuchar, Jason Dufner, Zach Johnson, and Kevin Tway.

2023 WM Phoenix Open leaderboard

1. Scottie Scheffler
2. Nick Taylor
3. Jon Rahm
4. Justin Thomas
5. Jason Day
T6. Sam Burns
T6. Sungjae Im
T6. Jordan Spieth
T6. Tyrrell Hatton
T10. Wyndham Clark
T10. Xander Schauffele
T10. Rickie Fowler
T10. Adam Hadwin
T14. Patrick Rodgers
T14. Taylor Moore
T14. Dylan Frittelli
T14. Beau Hossler
T20. Seamus Power
T20. Keegan Bradley
T20. Sam Ryder
T23. Chesson Hadley
T23. Scott Stallings
T23. Adam Schenk
T23. Si Woo Kim
T23. Kurt Kitayama
T23. Jhonattan Vegas
T29. Hideki Matsuyama
T29. Hayden Buckley
T29. Matt Fitrpatrick
T32. James Hahn
T32. Billy Horschel
T32. Rory McIlroy
T32. Matt Kuchar
T32. Jason Dufner
T32. Zach Johnson
T32. Kevin Tway
T39. Sahith Theegala
T39. Max Homa
T39. Lucas Glover
T42. Adam Long
T42. Ryan Palmer
T42. Aaron Rai
T42. Viktor Hovland
T42. K.H.Lee
T42. Brian Harman
T42. Keith Mitchell
T42. Gary Woodland
T50. Tom Kim
T50. Justin Lower
T50. Lucas Herbert
T50. Joel Dahmen
T50. Corey Conners
T50. Brandon Wu
T50. Erik Van Rooyen
T57. Webb Simpson
T57. Taylor Pendrith
T57. Danny Lee
T57. Greyson Digg
T61. Trey Mullinax
T61. Nate Lashley
63. Kelly Kraft
64. Cameron Young
65. Stewart Cink
66. Jim Herman