Scottie Scheffler takes PGA Championship; Thunder crush Nuggets; Panthers rout Maple Leafs

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🏀 Good morning to all, but especially to…

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER

In winning the PGA Championship, the world’s best golfer is now halfway to the heralded career slam. Scottie Scheffler never relinquished his 54-hole lead at Quail Hollow in Charlotte on Sunday, but that didn’t mean there were no tense moments. Jon Rahm briefly pulled even with Scheffler, but faded far back enough to make No. 18 a stress-free test. Scheffler shot an even par round of 71 to close the year’s second major and secure the Wanamaker Trophy to go along with his two green jackets for winning the 2022 and 2024 Masters at Augusta National.

Some perspective? Over the last 75 years only two other golfers have won three majors and 15 PGA victories before their 29th birthday. Their names? Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. And the sport is also having a moment as the last six majors have been won by four of the sport’s top stars. Our Patrick McDonald helped give some additional context to the greatness we’re all witnessing.

• McDonald: “All three of Scheffler’s major triumphs have come by a margin of 3+ strokes making him the sixth man in history to achieve that mark and first since 1983 when Seve Ballesteros claimed his second of two green jackets. Only two men have more in their careers (yes, Jack and Tiger). Scheffler won by five on Sunday converting a 54-hole lead into a victory for the sixth consecutive time; he improved to 10 for 16 in his PGA Tour career.”

Scheffler took home approximately $3.4 million for the PGA win, and here’s a look at the overall purse for the event. Not a bad outing with the backup driver.

😀 Honorable mentions

🏀 And not such a good morning for …

NIKOLA JOKIĆ AND THE DENVER NUGGETS

Aside from the non-Nikola Jokić minutes and the sacking of the coach and GM just before the playoffs, you could tell that something wasn’t quite right in Denver. At times lethal, and at times seemingly lethargic, the Nuggets showed they could run with teams or be run off the floor by them — and the latter is what started happening in the second quarter of what would become a 32-point loss to the Thunder in Oklahoma City in Game 7.

Our Sam Quinn has a great take on where Denver needs to go from here and how they could’ve avoided the pit they now find themselves:

• Quinn: “[Jokić] didn’t come up short because of bad luck or some granular strategic or lineup flaw. No, the Thunder won this series because they had nine trustworthy players and the Nuggets had three. When it mattered most, Denver often could rely on only one:
  In the first six games of this series, Nikola Jokić had 88 potential assists, but only 34 total assists. That’s a conversion rate of 38.6%. In the regular season, Jokić had a conversion rate of around 62%. He created shots. His teammates missed them.”

For what it’s worth, Aaron Gordon says he likes what he’s seen from interim coach David Adelman, and is lobbying for him to get the permanent spot. Gordon, who was nursing a mild hamstring injury after Game 6 Friday night, also said he’d prefer to see more days off between playoff games.

😞 Not so honorable mentions

🏀 Thunder join Knicks, Pacers, Timberwolves in NBA’s conference finals

When we last parted before the weekend, the quiet part some started saying out loud was that the Knicks and the Thunder might be in over their heads with both the Celtics and Nuggets looking the part of former champions going against teams who haven’t navigated that gauntlet in their current form. 

And then Friday happened. The first quarter was tighter than the home crowd wanted to see before the Knicks won the second quarter by 21 and effectively cruised the rest of the way, en route to a 119-81 victory. (Here’s an inside look behind the Knicks’ big win.)

And then Sunday happened. The first quarter was tighter than the home crowd wanted to see before the Thunder won the second quarter by 19 and effectively cruised the rest of the way, en route to a 125-93 victory.

In OKC, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a game-high 35 points on an efficient 12 of 19 shooting, and Alex Caruso (11 points, three steals) was an insane +40 in only 26 minutes on the floor. And his post-game quote? He said that a player who didn’t feel any nerves before a Game 7 would be “probably like a serial killer.”

And so now we have a pair of conference finals involving the Pacers and the Timberwolves, two teams that have never won a title and two franchises who haven’t won a ‘chip since the 1970s. The Thunder, don’t forget, are the former Seattle SuperSonics who won it all in 1979, and the Knicks — your father (or grandfather) will tell you — wore crowns in 1970 and 1973.

Stay tuned for our conference final previews, coming in this space tomorrow.

🏀 The Caitlin Clark-Angel Reese drama continues

The second season of the WNBA’s Caitlin Clark-Angel Reese era got underway over the weekend, and it did not take long to see why the Fever have championship dreams. However, not surprisingly, the Clark flagrant foul on Reese is the play that received the most of the attention, and we’re likely to see it again and again. Here’s the account from our Jack Maloney, who was in the building:

• Maloney: “In the middle of the third quarter, Reese appeared to push Natasha Howard in the back prior to grabbing an offensive rebound. Clark, who finished with 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for third career triple-double, put her arms out expecting a call from the refs, but none was forthcoming. As Reese gathered to go up for a layup, Clark wrapped her up with a hard foul.
  Reese took exception and popped up and immediately started yelling at Clark. Fever forward Aliyah Boston quickly arrived on the scene and pushed Reese, as Clark walked away from the situation. The back-and-forth continued verbally for a brief time before officials and coaches broke things up.”

The crowd was amped up to begin with, and the call against Clark didn’t help soothe matters. On Sunday, the league said it would be investigating “hateful” comments that were made during the game.

🏒 Conference finals set after Panthers rout Maple Leafs in Game 7

The NHL also closed its conference semifinal round with a Game 7 on Sunday, and much like the NBA Panthers-Maple Leafs was also a blowout — only this time it was the visiting squad that had the last laugh. Florida roughed up Toronto, 6-1, to advance to the Eastern Conference Final. (Seth Jones was one of the 3 Stars of the Night.)

The Western Conference Final wrapped up in Game 6 Saturday night with the Stars pulling out a thrilling 2-1 victory in overtime. Jets center Mark Scheifele, who found out his father died unexpectedly the night before, played in the game, scoring the game’s first (and his team’s last) goal of the season.

The goaltending in the third period resembled more of what you’d see on a foosball table as opposed to an NHL rink. Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck and Dallas’ Jake Oettinger traded wild saves, and only a tripping call against Scheifele in the waning seconds of the third period put the Stars on the power play, which led to the winning goal during the man-advantage.

The Eastern Conference Final will start tomorrow night with the Hurricanes hosting the reigning Stanley Cup champion Panthers, and on Wednesday, the Oilers will visit the Stars in a Western Conference Final rematch from last season.

In other hockey news, fans have been rallying behind Scheifele. A “$55 for 55” campaign — Scheifele wears No. 55 — was started to raise money for a youth organization in the name of Brad Scheifele, and one media report indicates that more than $55,000 has already been raised.

⚾ MLB Power Rankings, weekend roundup: Yankees take two of three from Mets

Here’s the latest top five of Matt Snyder MLB Power Rankings:

1. Tigers (previous: 4)
2. Dodgers (1)
3. Yankees (6)
4. Mets (2)
5. Cubs (8)

The Rangers had the biggest jump, moving up six spots from 21st to 15th. And the slide of the week goes to the Guardians who fall eight spots, from 10th down to 18th.

Matt notes that in 125 seasons, the Tigers have only won 31 of their first 47 games five times. And things are certainly looking up in St. Louis. The Cardinals had the biggest jump last week from 23rd to 12th, and now they’ve risen to 11. Meanwhile, with a firm grasp on that 29th spot, the White Sox were swept by the Cubs.

Here’s more from around the bigs:

📺 What we’re watching Monday

⚾ Army at Holy Cross, 6 p.m. on ESPN+
⚾ Reds at Pirates, 6:40 p.m. on FS1
🏀 Storm at Wings, 8 p.m.