Smylie Kaufman thinks he knows why Scottie Scheffler had another slow start at the Genesis Invitational.
Scheffler’s struggles on the opening day of his last three PGA Tour starts, all on a Thursday, have been a significant surprise.
The world number one had to battle just to make the cut at both the WM Phoenix Open and Genesis Invitational. At Riviera, he found himself five over par through 10 holes and sitting in last place when play was halted on day one.
Despite these slow starts, Scheffler has managed to recover well each time. Even so, it is unusual for a player of his calibre to consistently put himself under that much pressure early on.
Breaking down Scottie Scheffler’s tough start at the Genesis Invitational
There may be a valid explanation for why he struggled in Pacific Palisades.
On The Smylie Show, Kaufman commented that the conditions Scheffler faced when starting his round at Riviera would have been extremely challenging for any player.
He said: “Dating back to the Phoenix Open, he was just off that day and it kind of felt like it was the irons that day. And then you move it a week later at Pebble Beach, also was the irons. Then fast forward to Riv this week, I will give him a little bit of credit here. I think he had the bad wave when it came to the Thursday tee times when it came to the restart that they had around 4 o’clock when they got back out there.
“Just one of those long days. I’m sure he had to warm up multiple times. He comes out, he has to play in gusty winds. Earlier in the day, sure it was a little windy, but it was more rain than anything and soft scoring conditions. When it comes to what the players dealt with on Thursday and a little bit of Friday, when you have gusty winds, soft fairways, soft greens and really fast, slopey greens, poa annua, that’s a really difficult combination, because when you have greens that are pitched back to front and you’re trying to take spin off the golf ball with wet ground, wet golf ball, guys are hitting these knockdown shots that are flying hole high, they’re ripping it back 40 feet. And then you throw in you might get a gust of 20 miles per hour back into your face to a back pin, you’re like, ‘how am I supposed to get this anywhere near the hole?’
“And it felt like to me that Scottie just got in some weird places, hit putts that just didn’t go in. The putting and the iron game was off, but I think a lot of it had to do with just being a weird, weird afternoon of weather that I thought was really challenging conditions.”
Scottie Scheffler experiences unusual slow start to the 2026 PGA Tour season
Through just four starts in 2026, Scheffler has already posted more rounds over 70 than he did in his final eight events of the previous year.
The 29-year-old was only over par once after an opening round last season – that coming at the US Open at Oakmont, where he carded a 73 before going on to finish tied for seventh.
Given how often Scheffler has found himself breaking records whenever he tees it up, it is not all that surprising he has now done something we have not seen from him since the 2021/22 PGA Tour season.
That year marked the last time Scheffler opened multiple tournaments with rounds over par. It is too early to raise any alarms just yet, but it is unusual to see him struggle to get out of the gates quickly.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
