CHARLOTTE, N.C. 鈥� It is unclear how 鈥� or if 鈥� future generations will remember this PGA Championship.
The tales of professional golfers bemoaning mud balls and preferred lies will die by next week. The same will be true of the arguments regarding Quail Hollow 鈥� is it interesting enough, penal enough for a major championship? Springing up more will be the lack of drama on Sunday 鈥� a runaway afternoon on the heels of that April Sunday in Augusta, when Rory McIlroy fell to his knees and golf climbed back into the public zeitgeist.
More likely, this third weekend in May will endure because it will be one of many. It will no longer exist as a singular event but the collection in a legacy.
Scottie Scheffler rolled to victory at the PGA Championship, firing a Sunday round of 71 to finish the tournament 11-under 鈥� five better than a trio of golfers 鈥� Bryson DeChambeau, Davis Riley and Harris English 鈥� in second at 6-under. North Carolina鈥檚 J.T. Poston finished tied for fifth with Jhonattan Vegas and Taylor Pendrith at 5-under.
Jon Rahm, who through 11 holes was tied with Scheffler for the tournament lead, crumbled on Quail Hollow鈥檚 famed Green Mile. He finished two two double-bogeys and fell all the way to 4-under, seven back and tied for eighth with nine other golfers.
Scheffler, meanwhile, rolled into Charlotte in a group of 89 others with two majors. He exits the Queen City as one of 47 with three.
From there, you can start cherry picking stats punctuating the 28-year-old Scheffler鈥檚 historical place. Such as: He joins Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus as the only three players with a pair of Masters victories and a PGA Championship win before the age of 30.
His greatness has not gone unnoticed; CBS golf commentator Jim Nantz said 鈥渢his is superstar stuff we鈥檙e seeing鈥� as Scheffler cruised to victory on the back nine.
Now, these things can be fickle. Following his victory at the 2014 PGA Championship, McIlroy joined another Woods-Nicklaus club: Four majors by age 25. Then McIlroy went dry, failing to win another major until his April breakthrough.
In 2017, Jordan Spieth鈥檚 Open Championship victory gave him three-fourths of the career Grand Slam before his 24th birthday 鈥� something only Nicklaus had accomplished. Speith hasn鈥檛 won a major since.
All that is to say, we鈥檝e done this before. A young star bursts on the scene, racks up some quick majors, joining some group only previously occupied by Woods and Nicklaus, and we begin projecting their eventual major count. Could he get to seven? Ten? Thirteen?
Then someone new comes along and a drought begins.
And, still, knowing that: Scheffler, who grew up mastering golf in Dallas, feels different. He does not so much bludgeon his opponents as he withers them down like wind and rain eroding a mountaintop. He requires them to be perfect because his "B+" golf game is often good enough to win.
Think about it: This PGA Championship began on Thursday with Scheffler shooting a round of 69. He hooked a mud ball into the water at 16 and made double bogey. He then gave an ensuing lecture on golf course conditioning and explained how rulings outside of his control turned the tournament into a crap shoot. He went to sleep that night five shots off the lead.
By Saturday night, he led the field by three shots 鈥� after a third round with a cramped leaderboard and the feeling that a dozen or so guys had a legitimate chance to win the tournament. Then Scheffler played the final five holes at 5-under. He breezed through Quail Hollow鈥檚 treacherous Green Mile 鈥� holes 16, 17 and 18 鈥� birding the final two and, suddenly, it seemed silly to think anyone else could lift the Wanamaker.
In a span of about 30 minutes, Scheffler went from two shots back to three shots ahead. From in the hunt to running away with the tournament. From an inevitability at Quail Hollow to inevitability to win how many more majors? Pick a number: seven? Ten? Thirteen? Sure! Why not?
If that does happen, if the man so unflappable remains at his current form, it is likely we will look at this PGA Championship as one of a bunch. Sort of in the same way the Michael Jordan titles in the 1990s can blend together as time goes on 鈥� he won three, retired, then won three more.
Or how Woods鈥� majors kind of scramble together. There was the 1997 Masters, then a bunch of majors really quick and then he won the 2019 Masters.
True greatness requires so much winning that it is separated into sections 鈥� for everyone but those lucky enough to bear witness. Thankfully, greatness stopped in Charlotte.