Scottie Scheffler secures 20th career PGA title at season-opening American Express

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/scheffler-scottie/bXfIuBYu/"]Scheffler[/a], whose 2025 season included two major titles among six victories, piled up nine birdies in a six-under par 66 on the Stadium Course, where even a double-bogey at the 17th was barely a blip on the way to a 27-under par total of 261 and a four-shot victory.[/p][p]Australian veteran [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/day-jason/YFf7Pfqa/"]Jason Day[/a] climbed into a share of second with a superb eight-under par 64. He was joined on 265 by Americans [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gerard-ryan/Wh01wlMn/"]Ryan Gerard[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mccarty-matt/fNuDZzuq/"]Matt McCarty[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/putnam-andrew/jyHnts0P/"]Andrew Putnam[/a], Gerard posting a seven-under 65 and McCarty and Putnam each signing for a 68.[/p][p]Scheffler, 29, became the first player since [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/woods-tiger/jcA2kkj7/"]Tiger Woods[/a] to grab his 20th US PGA Tour title before the age of 30. He's off to his fifth straight season with at least one victory.[/p][p][b]"It means a lot," [/b]Scheffler said.[b] "It was a challenging week. I did a good job of staying patient and executing when I needed to."[/b][/p][embed guid="ca905520-f067-4fb1-86b9-dd9d9ca14538" url="https://x.com/PGATOUR/status/2015582724841443686?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]Scheffler, who hasn't missed a cut on the PGA Tour since August 2022, started the day one off the lead and opened with a birdie. He bogeyed the second before settling in with back-to-back birdies at four and five and another pair at seven and eight.[/p][p][b]He added four more birdies coming in, his four-footer at the par-five 16th pushing him to 29-under.[/b][/p][p]He was in the water off the tee on the way to a double-bogey at the par-three 17th, but by then there was no catching him.[/p][p]Overnight leader [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kim-si-woo/AVOmsy0G/"]Kim Si-woo[/a] of South Korea carded an even par 72 to tie for sixth on 22-under.[/p][p]Teenager [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/brown-blades/t8LR4g85/"]Blades Brown[/a], who started the day tied with Scheffler on 21-under, closed with a two-over 74 for a share of 18th.[/p][p]It finished off a remarkable week for the 18-year-old from Tennessee, who tied for 17th in a Korn Ferry event in the Bahamas on Wednesday before a dash to California to tee it up on a sponsor's exemption.[/p][embed guid="e6123e26-a6fb-482e-a01e-3e0bbc65d353" url="https://x.com/SportsCenter/status/2015643871733006493?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]He flirted with a 59 on Friday, when a 60 gave him a share of the halfway lead. He had a birdie chance at 18 for a share of 10th - and a place in the Torrey Pines field.[/p][p]He closed with a bogey but departed happy with his week.[/p][p][b]"I could probably write a book about what I've learned these past couple of days,"[/b] Brown said.[/p][p][b]"Just knowing that I can compete out here. It was so cool watching Scottie win in person and getting to play with him.[/b][/p][p][b]"He's such an unbelievable guy. He talked to me numerous times throughout the round and was giving me a lot of encouragement, so it was awesome."[/b][/p]