By Winning Another Big Prize at the Players, Scottie Scheffler Again Shows a Game for Anywhere
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — If there were doubts, it was simply because Scottie Scheffler made us think about them. The trip to the practice tee early Saturday evening even after shooting 65 gave pause. So did the memory of that blown lead last year at the Tour Championship.
For a guy with a green jacket in his closet as the reigning Masters champion, and a steady performer for the majority of the past 15 months, the idea that he could cruise to a Players Championship win on Sunday still seemed suspect.
Then Scheffler turned a close battle into a rout, birdieing five straight holes in the middle of the final round Sunday at TPC Sawgrass before cruising to victory at the PGA Tour’s flagship event.
And now the idea of Scheffler defending his title at Augusta National next month will gain even more credence.
Why not? Scheffler, 26, who moved back to No. 1 in the world in both the OWGR and the SI World Golf Rankings, has shown an ability to handle all manner of conditions and courses. Last year he won a birdie-fest in Phoenix and on a brutal test at Bay Hill and a funky format at the Match Play and on the emerald greens of Augusta National.
This year he then defended his title in Phoenix, nearly did it at Bay Hill and added the biggest tournament outside of the major championships to his resume.
His final-round 69 was the only score in the last 10 groups Sunday in the 60s and it helped produce his sixth victory in his last 27 starts. And to think Scheffler was the last man picked for the 2021 U.S. Ryder Cup team.
For those counting, that’s six tournament titles in 13 months, with a playoff loss and a couple of other close calls thrown in. The victory was also worth $4.5 million from the $25 million purse, the biggest on the PGA Tour.
"He's very impressive," said Tyrrell Hatton, who threw a 65 at Scheffler during the final round, including a back-nine 29, that briefly had him just two strokes back. “Incredibly consistent. He's had an amazing, what, 15-month stretch of golf. Played with him last Sunday (at the Arnold Palmer Invitational) and it was clear like he didn't have his best that day, but he still hung around and had a chance there right at the end.
"Like it's a pretty tough thing to do to be up there when you don't have your best golf and still give yourself a chance to win. So, yeah, it's very impressive what he's doing."
That’s the thing about Scheffler. Even when he’s not at his best, he seems to find a way.
While he seemingly does a lot right, even when he does something wrong, he manages to recover.
Hence the trip to the range on Saturday night to work out some kinks in his swing. Scheffler sometimes sees a miss to the left creep into his game. It happened enough times during the third round that Scheffler was concerned enough to try and work it out.
The session didn’t last long, but sure enough, there was a drive to the left to start the fourth round, and a good par save. There was a second shot pulled left at the par-5 2nd, leading to a disappointing par. He bogeyed the third and suddenly found himself tied with Min Woo Lee, who ran into trouble at the 4th, allowing Scheffler some breathing room.
It wasn’t until the 8th hole that Scheffler finally made a birdie, as he chipped in from 35 feet. That seemed to change everything as Scheffler then went on a run with birdies at the next four holes to widen his advantage.
Chip-ins seems to be a thing for Scheffler. He holed out a pitch for eagle at the second hole on Saturday that boosted him into the lead. He even has a bet with his caddie, Ted Scott, about the number he will make in a season.
When necessary, Scheffler has a short game that is as strong as anyone in the game. For the tournament, he was fourth in strokes gained around the green—and that’s on top of being third in strokes-gained off the tee and fifth in strokes-gained approach to the green.
"He’s got great hands," said Jordan Spieth, who plays often with Scheffler. “He’s got every shot, and then at this point, once he won last year and obviously won the Masters ... when you’re presented with those shots, if you don’t feel like you have house money, you play them a certain way. But if you feel like it doesn’t matter, you’re going to play the shot that could go closest even if it means disaster could happen.
“You sit there and go for it and pull it off, similar to how Phil Mickelson played most of his rounds.
“I’m not saying he didn’t play that way before he won," Spieth continued. “There’s nothing to lose, everything to gain for him, and it’s a really nice play to be where he’s at. I’ve been there. It’s a really fun time playing golf that way when the ball does find the cup like that, too."
All of those impressive stats help Scheffler overcome perhaps the most ordinary part of his game: putting. Scheffler lost strokes on the green to the field in two of the four rounds and was a pedestrian 48th for the tournament.
And yet, he made just five bogeys for the week.
“He’s obviously just very good at every aspect of golf," Max Homa said.
Scheffler downplayed the need to hit a few balls after his round on Saturday, but did acknowledge the morning before the final round was not easy. He thought back to that six-shot advantage he had over Rory McIlroy at the Tour Championship, one where a FedEx Cup title seemed inevitable.
He shot 75 that day and was annoyed he could not finish off the Tour’s final prize in a player-of-the-year season.
“This tournament feels like a major championship to me and this morning was tough," Scheffler said. “I would say that East Lake at the end of last year was pretty challenging for me just to handle. It was obviously very sad and very hard and I didn’t expect things to finish that way. So this one’s a lot sweeter now."
Scheffler should take nothing but good vibes to his title defense at Augusta National in a few weeks. The WGC-Match Play is a bit of an outlier, and an early exit is not necessarily a bad thing.
If anything, Scheffler has proven plenty resilient. And as Spieth aptly put it, Scheffler is playing with house money.