Scotty Schaeffler coincided the record for the fewest strokes ever in a PGA Tour event as he scored an eight-shot victory at Texas’ CJ Cup Byron Nelson.
World No. 1 finished with a card on the final day of 63 to finish at -31 in the tournament, with eight South African Eric Van Luyen earning their first PGA Tour victory in the tournament in their hometown.
The American matched the PGA Tour scored 72 holes on Sunday, finishing at 253. He might have played the final three holes with a 3-under par, but the second bogey of the day on the 17th proved a rare wound in the round where he picked up Eagle and eight Bernies.
He appeared to break the PGA Tour record with an 8-foot birdie putt on the 18th, but it had to slide on the left side of the hole and settle for a share of the record set by Justin Thomas at the 2017 Sony Open.
Van Louen finished Schaeffler’s 63 with 23 under, a three-shot from Sam Stevens and four shots over another hometown favourite Jordan Spieth.
Eight golfers – Sam Burns, Mark Hubbard, Will Gordon, Eric Cole, Kurt Kitayama, Ricky Castillo, Adam Schenk and Takumi Kanaya – tied them in fifth place.
Image: Scotty Schaeffler celebrates after winning CJ Cup Byron Nelson
It was a smooth sailing for Schaeffler on the final day of the tournament after weather-related interruptions on Friday and late afternoon tea time on Saturday’s third round and after dusk.
He started the round with an eight-stroke lead, recording five birdies, bogeys and ninth eagle with a front nine score of 30.
He moved to record territory with birdies to holes 11, 14 and 15 at 29 under in the first 63 holes.
However, with the full record in sight, he found something ravaged from the tee on the 17th and settled on a bogey after his chip shot came back from the green.
Schaeffler missed last year’s event for the birth of his son Bennett, although his previous Best Nelson finish was his fifth tie two years ago.
Image: Schaeffler hugs his son Bennett after winning CJ Cup Byron Nelson
“It seemed like I played good golf. I put my place for most of the week,” he said.
“[Van Rooyen] I had a really good round today and put a lot of pressure on me. On the front nine, I did a good job of responding and kept him at bay. I played some nice balls
“It’s pretty special. It’s hard to write words. I had my first opportunity to do a professional event in 2014. I’m very grateful for that.
“I learned a lot that week. I was very inspired to come out here and try to make a living from this game. I’m very fortunate to be in this position.”
With the victory, Schaeffler will find his form before the PGA Championship at the Cool Hollow Club, which will be live at Sky Sports from May 15-18.
“What he’s doing is exciting,” Spieth said of Scheffler.
“If I were one of that last group, it would have been really cool, at least we were back and forth a bit, and that would have been pretty fun.
“I got a little lucky at 18. I thought I hit it in the water, and I ended up making birdies. These are the kind of breaks you need to shoot a 62 from time to time.”
Check out the PGA Tour signature event The Truist Championship Live on Sky Sports Golf. Coverage will begin on Thursday, May 8th at 7pm. Get Sky Sports and Streams now.
Get the best price and book a round in one of the 1,700 courses in the UK and Ireland
Get the best price and book a round in one of the 1,700 courses in the UK and Ireland
