PGA Tour: Matti Schmid narrowly misses out on first victory
Matti Schmid creates excitement, but misses his first victory on the PGA Tour by a hair's breadth. Magic shot on the last hole.
German professional golfer Matti Schmid narrowly missed out on his first victory on the PGA Tour. He was beaten by American Ben Griffin at the Charles Schwab Challenge at the Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas. Schmid and Griffin made it exciting: even though the eventual winner never relinquished the lead, Schmid came within one stroke shortly before the end despite numerous missed opportunities and put Griffin under a lot of pressure.
Matti Schmid finishes second on the PGA Tour
First and foremost with a magic shot for Birdie on the last hole. After his second shot on the Par-4 18th was too long, Schmid's ball hung on the slope behind the green. The 27-year-old catapulted the ball high into the air, it landed softly and disappeared into the hole. Griffin now had to save par from a difficult position (the ball was waist-high on the edge of a bunker, Griffin was standing in the sand) to avoid a playoff and held firm.
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First PGA Tour victory within reach
"Honestly, I just tried to hit the ball a little bit to the left," Schmid said after his magic shot. "I hit it pretty high so it would stop pretty quickly and then it came out to the right a little bit and went in. I was a bit lucky, but I deserved it." He then threw his arms up in celebration for the spectacle. A great moment in the still young PGA Tour career of the man from Herzogenaurach.
More than second place alone, two shots ahead of Bud Cauley, would have been possible. Griffin started with an Eagle birdie and was three shots clear. But Schmid did not give up despite his own setbacks (six Bogeys and a double bogey) and always kept in touch with the leader. With a fabulous shot from the Tee on the Par-3 16th, he recovered two strokes due to his opponent's Bogey and came within one stroke. A "fried egg" in the green bunker on the 17th prevented a further attack shortly before the end. Griffin then held his nerve under pressure on the final hole and denied Schmid a play-off.
The PGA Tour highlights in the video
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Matti Schmid secures Tour card for PGA Tour
Nevertheless, the result is a great success for Schmid. He finished second on the PGA Tour for the first time and showed in the final group that he can keep up to the end. In addition to a good million dollars in prize money, there were also 300 points for the season ranking, the FedEx Cup. Schmid is now in 55th place and has already collected so many points that it would easily have been enough to earn him a Tour card last season. He has also qualified for the next Signature Event via a special ranking, where there are also plenty of FedEx Cup points to be won in addition to horrendous prize money (25 million dollars in total).
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Release date
26 May 2025
photos
Matti Schmid finishes second at the Charles Schwab Challenge on the PGA Tour. (Photo: Imago)