La Jolla, California-Scottie Scheffler set the bar extremely high after a seven-win season that resulted in a third successive player of the year award. Three tournaments in his 2025 season, how does the world find number 1 player about his game?
“I think I feel pretty bad about where I am,” said Scheffler, who shot 66 a final round on Torrey Pines Golf Course and finished in third place in the Genesis Invitational 2025.
Scheffler missed at least two starts after he had injured his right hand and needed surgery during the Christmas holidays, and his game has not been sharp yet – at least according to his standards. This week he had two rounds of the second and third-where he lost success of the T-shirt and, even more UN-Scottie-like, two rounds where he passed closerment shots, in the second and fourth rounds. That only happened twice in 2024.
Scheffler shot a 4-over 76 Saturday, his highest round on tour since the last round of the 2022 Players Championship. That includes 212 official rounds, but the 76 on Saturday was his second over-par round this season from 12 in total rounds, but he said while he discussed his third round with his chiropractor on the table, he was not too worried there over.
“Marnus asked me about my day. I said, “To be honest, I feel in a better place today than yesterday.” I think I entered the round of today, I just tried to have a better attitude. Yesterday I felt occasionally in the round that I tried to press a little while I fell behind, “Scheffler said. “I absolutely, I think, paid the prize for it in the background nine, but in general it has done a good job today to give myself a chance. I couldn’t make all the shots there at the end. “
On Sunday he threw 10 shots out of his score and played like a world no. 1, who produced Pars and Birdies as he could. That included a chip-in Birdie at number 5 and a bunker shot at no. 15. He went out in 5-under 31, climbing within a shot of the leadership. It felt tiger-like until he dropped shots at Nos. 11 and 16 when he could not afford them.
“On the back nine I felt that I could have given myself a little more opportunities,” said Scheffler. ‘Put a good fight. I didn’t have what my best stuff was this week and still found a way to give myself a chance in the tournament. A few fewer mistakes at the weekend and it can be a different story. “
At the moment last year, Scheffler had not yet won, so there is no reason to panic. He sometimes looked frustrated, but in each of his last two starts he has shown that he is more than able to get into the mix without his best stuff – and he doesn’t look far away. He said he expected to defend his titles at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and Players Championship and hinted to add another start, possibly at the Texas Children’s Houston open, where he finished second in the run-up to his master’s last year Defense defense.
“I try to give myself a little grace and some patience, a little back in the swing of things,” said Scheffler. “In recent weeks I have done a number of things that I am happy with and certainly a number of things that I have to improve.”
This article originally appeared on Golf Week: Scottie Scheffler made a Sunday indictment of the Genesis that falls short
