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Monday, February 13, 2023

The Limerick Summary: 2023 WM Phoenix Open

Winner: Scottie Scheffler

Around the wider world of golf: Ockie Strydom won the Singapore Classic on the DP World Tour; Rhein Gibson won the Astara Golf Championship on the Korn Ferry Tour; Stephen Ames won the Trophy Hassan II on the Champions Tour; Maja Stark won the Lalla Meryem Cup on the LET; Takumi Kanaya won the International Series Oman on the Asian Tour; Oliver Bekker won the Dimension Data Pro-Am on the Sunshine Tour; and Michael Hendry won the Vic Open on the Australasian Tour.

Scottie Scheffler with Phoenix Open tropy

My Twofer Tuesday picks feel like a badly twisted version of the Monte Hall Paradox. (If you don't know what that is, just look it up. It's a classic statistics puzzle named after a famous American game show host. Simply put, there are three choices and the unpicked third choice is usually the winner.) I had Rory McIlroy (T32) and Jon Rahm (3). At the Sentry, Rahm was my third choice; at the Farmers, Homa was my third choice; this week, Scheffler was my third choice... and all three won! I've got to figure out how to beat this version of the paradox.

  • Top10s: 3 for 12 (2Top5,s 1 Top10)
  • Winners: 1 for 6 events
  • Top20s: 4 for 12

Scottie Scheffler came in as the defending champion, into a field that was now LOADED with top players since the Phoenix Open was the first full field event of the new 'elevated' events. Even when the event didn't draw as many top players, it was difficult to repeat as winner.

Scottie made it look easy.

Jon Rahm tried to catch him, he really did. So Jordan Spieth, Jason Day, Justin Thomas, Sungjae Im, Sam Burns, Tyrrell Hatton... the list goes on. Even up-and-comer Nick Taylor (he grabbed solo 2nd) and resurgent Rickie Fowler (T10) were making moves. But Scottie was unfazed and finished two shots clear of Taylor, his closest competitor.

This was big for Scheffler. It's easy to forget that this event was his first PGA Tour victory just a year ago, the one that began that crazy run to his Masters win and World #1. Well, now he's #1 again with his fifth PGA Tour win and his fifth Limerick Summary. Man, what a way to finish off a Super Bowl weekend!

He’s back on the top of the heap—
It’s a title he’s anxious to keep!
And with back-to-back wins
Scottie’s face is all grins
As he caps off his Super Bowl week!

The photo came from this page at pgatour.com.

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