Scottie Scheffler is Poised to Take the PGA Tour by the Horns
LOS ANGELES— Despite preparing for a tournament in the posh Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, fresh off a win in Arizona, Scottie Scheffler had Texas on his mind.
The stage for Scheffler’s PGA success was set during his college days playing for the University of Texas from 2014-2018. Scheffler had his fair share of accomplishments at Texas, including being named the 2015 Phil Mickelson Freshman of the Year and helping lead Texas to three Big 12 championships.
“I think Texas did a great job of preparing me to play out here,” Scheffler said. “We played a great schedule when I was in college.”
“We played on a lot of different grasses, a lot of different temperatures and conditions and on some pretty difficult courses so it really prepared us to be out here.”
“Us,” of course, referring to the number of former Longhorn greats that are now on the PGA Tour themselves, as seven former Longhorns are competing in the Genesis Invitational this week. From Jordan Spieth to Dylan Frittelli, seeing fellow Longhorns at tournaments is always a welcome sight for Scheffler.
“As far as Texas goes out on tour, I think it’s great,” Scheffler said. “We kind of have a little fraternity of guys out here that are all pretty good buds.”
“It was definitely nice early in my career seeing those familiar faces, kind of guys that I knew and guys that I competed against before and kind of helped prove to the younger guys like myself coming up that we could do this as well.”
While Scheffler believes that Texas greatly helped him prepare for the transition to life on the tour and the success that follows, he does have many great recollections from his college golf career.
“I’ve just got a lot of [good memories],” Scheffler said. “We used to have a lot of fun just going out and playing UT Golf Club and just having games throughout the week, just practicing together.”
If you talked to Scheffler Tuesday morning as he prepared for the Genesis Invitational, you couldn't tell that he is coming off his first PGA Tour victory in his career. Rather, Scheffler had the composure of a seasoned vet who had been around the block once or twice, as he allowed the win to sink in.
“There’s not much to say, to be honest with you,” Scheffler said. “It’s a nice accomplishment and it feels good to finally get a win out here.”
Whether or not Scheffler rolls the momentum from his Waste Management Open into future success at the PGA level is yet to be seen. What can be said, though, is that Texas golf laid the foundation for Scheffler to perform at the professional level.
You can find Connor Zimmerlee on Twitter @Connorjz98
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