Scottie Scheffler’s numbers from the opening day of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am looked far removed from what you would expect from a world number one.
Scheffler won the American Express in his first appearance of the year and followed it up with a tie for third at the WM Phoenix Open.
He did card a 73 to start off at TPC Scottsdale and never really found top gear, even though he still managed to post some solid scores over the next three days.
And Scheffler’s slow start in Phoenix does not seem to be an isolated blip, either.
On Thursday at Pebble Beach, his iron play was astonishingly bad. His approaches were so off that he looked like an impersonator had somehow taken his spot in the tournament field.
The Poa annua greens at Pebble Beach have a reputation for being tricky, but Scheffler seemed more affected than most with his putting struggles standing out across all three rounds played so far.
Scottie Scheffler’s opening-round stats at Pebble Beach raise concerns
Scheffler posted a level-par 72 on Thursday at Pebble Beach, a score that did not make the most of the perfect conditions along the Monterey Peninsula.
The round was not what we have come to expect from him. He had issues both with his putter and his irons.
He struggled on the greens, losing 2.149 strokes to the field. This ranked him among the bottom nine players in that category on the first day.
Scheffler’s putting has come a long way over the past two years, which makes Thursday’s performance even more surprising.
In 2023, he was outside the top 150 in strokes gained putting but improved to inside the top 80 in 2024 and reached as high as 22nd in 2025. This round felt like a step back to his earlier struggles on the greens.
Even more surprising was how poor his iron play looked. Those who have watched him regularly over recent seasons would not have expected this drop-off.
Scheffler gave up 2.341 strokes to the field with his approach shots, ranking near the bottom of an 80-player field – just not what you would expect from someone of his standard.
His post-round comments were just as worrying as his numbers…
Scottie Scheffler’s unusual remarks after day one at Pebble Beach
Scheffler has now opened with back-to-back rounds of par or worse for the first time since 2020.
Speaking to the media after his 72, the world number one was asked how he felt about his current form.
“I feel like typically I’m good at scoring and today I felt like I didn’t score at all.
“Like anything that kind of went wrong seemed to be going that direction and I just felt like I scored poorly. I actually feel like I’m playing pretty well, just one of those days,” he stated.
Given how his putting and iron play looked, it is hard to square those comments with what we saw on the course.
It might have been an attempt to ease some pressure ahead of Friday’s round rather than a true reflection of how he felt about his play.
Even after a rough start, there is still an expectation for Scheffler to bounce back with a low score at Spyglass Hill in round two – because that is what he has shown he can do time and again.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
