Davis Riley rolls by Scottie Scheffler to win at Colonial

Davis Riley had his work minimize out for him Sunday on the Charles Schwab Challenge.

By no means thoughts who he performed his remaining spherical with on Sunday, however a newly revamped Colonial Country Club was biting back hard. After enjoying below par Saturday, The fabled Fort Price, Texas observe was rock onerous and quick Sunday, difficult by gusty winds that wreaked havoc on the sector. Sunday’s scoring common was greater than two-and-a-quarter strokes over par.

Add the plain proven fact that Riley was enjoying with Scottie Scheffler, a participant within the midst of 1 probably the most dominant runs in males’s skilled golf since Tiger Woods. The Scheffler of the previous few months might have simply closed the four-shot lead Riley needed to start the day.

However he didn’t and Riley rose to the event.

After briefly permitting Scheffler inside three after a bogey on the 2nd gap, Riley rebounded with a birdie on No. 4 to increase his result in 5. Nobody bought inside 4 photographs of him once more all day. Ultimately, Riley’s even-par 70 to win the Charles Schwab Problem by 5 over Scheffler and Keegan Bradley.

It’s Riley’s second PGA Tour title, however first individually after he won the Zurich Classic team event final 12 months with companion Nick Hardy. However individually, the previous two seasons have been extra of a battle for the 27-year-old.

After a formidable rookie season in 2022 when he had six top-10s and was certainly one of eight first-year Tour members to advance to the BMW Championship, Riley wouldn’t have stored his card in 2023 had it not been for the win on the group occasion. He had only one different top-10 and missed 14 cuts in 35 occasions.

This season, he was enjoying even worse, lacking half his cuts to date and getting into this week at Colonial in a hundred and fiftieth within the FedEx Cup standings with only one top-25 end.

However all you want is one good week.

Riley not too long ago reunited with longtime buddy and former swing coach Jeff Smith and the 2 have been engaged on getting extra “simplicity” in his golf swing.

It clicked this week as he raced out to a four-shot lead after 54 holes Sunday and regardless of a shaky par-bogey begin on Colonial’s getable 1st and 2nd holes, Riley had management of the event all day. At the same time as he starred down the identical participant who beat him within the finals of the 2013 U.S. Junior Novice.

He stated Saturday night time he needed to flip the script in opposition to Scheffler.

The World No. 1 too parred the par-5 opener, the best gap all week and began fading away rapidly. He drove right into a penalty space on the fifth, resulting in a bogey and struggled along with his driver for a lot of the afternoon. He didn’t discover the golf green till the sixth gap and hit solely two within the first 11 holes on a day when agency circumstances demanded approaches from the brief grass.

In the meantime, Riley continued plodding alongside as none of his challengers might mount a critical problem, at one level, opening a seven-shot lead. He gave a couple of again with bogeys on 12 and 15, however he bought one again with a decent strategy on 17 out of a divot to stroll up 18 with a five-stroke lead.

Scheffler got here again with again 9 birdies on 13 and 17 to salvage a T2 end with Keegan Bradley, who posted a 67 for the second-lowest spherical of the day.

Riley’s win caps a tumultuous weekend on the PGA Tour. Saturday afternoon, Commissioner Jay Monahan introduced PGA Tour winner Grayson Murray had handed away that morning on the age of 30. Gamers wore black and pink pins on Sunday in his honor.

Jack Hirsh

Golf.com Editor

Jack Hirsh is an assistant editor at GOLF. A Pennsylvania native, Jack is a 2020 graduate of Penn State College, incomes levels in broadcast journalism and political science. He was captain of his highschool golf group and not too long ago returned to this system to function head coach. Jack additionally nonetheless *tries* to stay aggressive in native amateurs. Earlier than becoming a member of GOLF, Jack spent two years working at a TV station in Bend, Oregon, primarily as a Multimedia Journalist/reporter, but in addition producing, anchoring and even presenting the climate. He may be reached at [email protected].