FedEx St Jude Championship’s opening round is done and dusted, and it is no surprise to see Scottie Scheffler off to a strong start at TPC Southwind.
Scheffler carded a steady 67 to sit three-under par, five shots behind early leader Akshay Bhatia.
The New Jersey native is looking to conclude a remarkable year with additional victories, including another TOUR Championship.
Right now though, Scheffler’s attention is firmly on the FedEx St Jude.
He spoke highly of TPC Southwind before the tournament started, and after playing his opening round, he offered further thoughts on how the course is playing.
Scheffler shares thoughts on TPC Southwind
Like many courses on the PGA Tour, TPC Southwind has seen some recent changes aimed at improving the layout.
The course features thick rough and challenging greens, a fair test that rewards good shots and punishes mistakes, as Scheffler observed.
“Renovations were good. They put in new greens, fresh greens, firmed it up. They also, I felt like, they definitely tried to grow the rough a little bit thicker this year,” Scheffler said.
“Overall I thought it was a really good test. You’ve got to hit the ball well out here, and there’s great rewards for good shots and the bad shots are being punished as well.”
Scheffler opened his round with two birdies in three holes and noted that the front nine offers more scoring chances than the back nine.
“I would say the start is a little bit easier than the rest of the golf course. You see the guys shooting low rounds, you’ve got to get off to a good start.
“You’ve got a reachable par-5 on third and then two wedge holes to start as well. Did a good job getting the ball in fairway and then hitting some nice approach shots as well.”
Scheffler’s explanation about how he avoids making bogeys
Scottie Scheffler, who has consistently approached the game with strong ball-striking, played another steady round despite a bogey on the 18th hole.
His rise to world number one reflects this consistent approach, which he admits involves more than just hitting fairways and greens.
“It has a lot to do with execution. It’s easy to say, try to hit fairways, try to hit greens. It’s just way harder to do it. It’s way harder to hit a lot of fairways and hit a lot of greens. I think everybody always intends to do that when they go out there, and it’s one of those things that’s a lot easier said than done.
“When I’m executing and hitting fairways, it’s a lot easier to avoid bogeys, but when you start missing fairways out here, bogeys are going to come pretty quick.”
Scheffler is already in the mix after day one at TPC Southwind, and given how well he has been playing this season, he looks likely to stay in contention throughout the week.
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