Scottie Scheffler bests Kevin Kisner in Match Play final, rises to world No. 1 with third win in last six weeks

AUSTIN, Texas — Scottie Scheffler is the hottest player in golf and now has the ranking to prove it.

Six weeks after his first PGA Tour victory, Scheffler won the Dell Technologies Match Play for his third title in his last five starts, this one enough to move him to No. 1 in the world.

«I never got that far in my dreams,» Scheffler said in the trophy ceremony before choking up and wiping away tears, a rare show of emotion for the 25-year-old Texan. «I just play golf. I love competing. I'm happy to be out here, you know?»

One year after losing in the championship match, Scheffler never trailed against Kevin Kisner, building a 3-up lead through six holes and giving him no chance to catch up. Scheffler closed him out with a par on the 15th for a 4-and-3 victory.

Scottie Scheffler is the sixth-youngest player to debut at No. 1 in the world since the ranking began in 1986.

Scheffler never trailed in the semifinal win over Dustin Johnson or against Kisner — he went the final 57 holes at Austin Country Club without trailing — and he was so solid in the championship match that Kisner didn't win a hole.

«He's playing incredible golf,» Kisner said. «I couldn't get the putter to cooperate.»

So much was going Scheffler's way that on the par-5 12th, with Kisner looking at a 6-foot birdie, Scheffler didn't hit his eagle chip hard enough and it rolled down a slope into a bunker. And then he holed the bunker shot for a birdie.

Right when Kisner looked as though he would win his first hole and cut the deficit to 2 down with seven to play, he had to made the 6-footer to keep from losing more ground. But a bogey on the 14th spelled the end for Kisner.

Scheffler, so even-keel on the course, was caught up in the moment when it was over. He