A concerning trend is beginning to develop for Scottie Scheffler.
It started last week at the WM Phoenix Open, where Scheffler shot over par in his opening round at TPC Scottsdale. Amazingly, he rallied over the next three days and finished just one shot off the win, so there was no concern over his form.
But this week at Pebble Beach, Scheffler has done it again. He shot even par in his first round, leaving him 10 shots off the leader after one day of play, and giving him some work to do if he wants to make the cut.
So can the world number one bounce back and contend for the victory two weeks in a row? According to Scheffler, there’s one thing that could ruin any chance of that.
Scottie Scheffler hopes for bad weather at Pebble Beach
Part of what makes Pebble Beach so special is the unpredictable weather conditions, but the course didn’t bare its teeth in the opening round. Conditions were perfect, and scores were low, leaving Scheffler miles off the lead with a poor round.
The four-time major winner said that unless the conditions deteriorate over the weekend, he doesn’t stand much chance of making a comeback.
Scheffler was asked if he can draw on last week’s performance after his opening round, and he replied, “I think it’s a little bit easier to do around that golf course versus this one, the way the scores are shaping up to be.
“But around these places, you never know what the weather’s going to turn out to be like. I’ll need a little bit of help up there from the weather. If we get a few more days like this, it’s going to be pretty tough for me to be able to catch up. You know, overall, go out there tomorrow on Spyglass and see what I can do.”
He might be up against the wall once again, but you can never count this man out. We’ll be watching with eager anticipation for what the rest of the week brings.
Scottie Scheffler explained why Pebble Beach is so difficult
Pebble Beach is the host of the US Open in 2027, so clearly it’s a challenge for the best players on the planet. Its coastal conditions tied with tiny greens makes it a difficult place to find the putting surface.
After shooting even par, Scheffler explained what makes this course so tough: “I guess the challenge is making a bunch of birdies. That was a challenge for me today. I’m looking at the leaderboard on behind you right now and it looks like 7 under gets you in the top-10 so scores are pretty low.
“When you’re playing later in the day, it can be tough to hole putts on these greens. And, you know, like I said, for me I need to take advantage of holes early in the round, and I wasn’t able to do that, knowing that the wind was going to pick up and then we were going to turn into it kind of on the back nine.
“So for me it was really early stretch in the day where I didn’t take advantage of any holes kind of down the stretch.”
The weather is unpredictable here, so you must find some birdies while it’s calm and still. Scheffler didn’t do that, and that’s why he’s way back from the lead.
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