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.

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.

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.”

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.

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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