Will Chandler played himself one wild and long week of golf. From competing in the WM Phoenix Open’s last-ever Monday qualifier to earning a coveted spot in the tournament — where he finished tied for sixth in just his third PGA Tour event — the 27-year-old underdog found himself walking down the 18th fairway on Sunday with the world’s top-ranked golfer, Scottie Scheffler.
The University of Georgia alum described his first three days of competition as a football-like environment, so the final round must have felt like the Super Bowl as the hundreds of fans following Scheffler throughout the week were the largest of any of the tournament’s threesomes.
While most of the raucous cheers were hurled in the direction of the Scheffler, Chandler received his own form of encouragement — fielding some dog-speak.
“I love it, getting barked at with my Georgia (driver) head cover and stuff, that’s been awesome,” Chandler said.
Chandler likely hopes the barking continues.
In true David vs. Goliath fashion, the PGA tour rookie who was ranked 579th in the world heading into the week, defied the odds and finished ahead of Scheffler. Chandler beat the 13-time PGA tour champion by shooting a final-round 65 to secure a score of 15 under.
Making his first cut on the PGA Tour, Chandler jumped 296 spots in the world golf rankings to 283rd.
“It feels good for sure,” Chandler said after his round on Sunday. “I’m leaving a little happier than I did my first two events, but at the end of the day, it’s golf. I’m definitely pleased with the week.”
There was a revolving group of family and friends following Chandler at TPC Scottsdale, including his mother, Beth Chandler, who travels with her son to many of his events. She said she remembers him falling in love with the game of golf as a sixth grader and is proud of how far Will has come.
“This was surreal,” Beth said. “This tournament has been on my personal bucket list for a long time, but I never thought I would be watching my son play in it, so it made it really special.”
Chandler’s driver cover wasn’t his only connection to his alma mater during the WM Phoenix Open. He enlisted his former college teammate and long-time friend Will Kahlstorf to be on his bag — which had stands resembling the ones you’d see at your everyday golf course rather than the ones most PGA tour players use that stand upright.
Kahlstorf said it was cool to watch his roommate from the University of Georgia go toe-to-toe with Scheffler.
“Just playing with the number one player in the world, having all these fans out here to cheer Scottie on, it’s just something you dream of,” Kahlstorf said.
Chandler had never met Scheffler but relished the opportunity to play with one of modern golf’s greats. On the 14th hole, Scheffler yelled out, “Nice shot, Will,” after chipping it within four feet of the hole.
“He’s an amazing golfer, he’s a great person, too, him and Cam (Young), they’re awesome,” Chandler said. “They couldn’t have been nicer.”
Brady Taugher and his dad, David, who traveled to Arizona from Boston, followed the group made up of Chandler, Scheffler and Cameron Young for the majority of the day so they could watch the world’s top-ranked golfer in action, but both said they were very impressed with Chandler’s poise playing in such a high-profile group so early into his PGA career.
“He’s doing a great job of keeping the noise out of his head,” Brady Taugher said.
That ability to remain focused was on full display during Chandler’s final hole of the tournament after his drive landed in a tricky spot in a right-side bunker of the 430-yard par-4. The lefty golfer took minutes closely examining the lie before pitching it out of the sand onto the middle of the fairway to leave himself with a 126-yard approach shot.
But what he did next generated a large roar from the packed gallery on No. 18 as he stuck his wedge-shot just four feet from the pin.
“It was closer than it looked from the fairway. I got up there, and I was like, oh, wow, that’s a tap-in,” Chandler said about saving par.
On top of earning $310,500 for his sixth-place performance at TPC Scottsdale, thanks in part to his clutch performance on No. 18, Chandler secured himself a spot at the Mexico Open at VidantaWorld in two weeks for finishing top 10 in the WM Phoenix Open as a qualifier.
“I’m excited to get back to work and get home,” Chandler said. “I have a lot I can improve on for sure.”
Will McLernon is a graduate student at Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Qualifier to top page of leaderboard: Will Chandler’s WM Phoenix Open
Read the full article here