HILTON HEAD ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA
Remember way back in February when there were questions about Scottie Scheffler and his putting? When there were Scheffler doubters? When other players were winning PGA Tour events? It seems to be a long time ago.
“I think it’s funny how quickly the narrative can change around here. I think a lot of people are just prisoners of the moment,” Scheffler said Monday morning, wearing his new tartan blazer over three layers of clothing to ward off the morning chill. “If I didn’t win this week, I’m sure it would be a lot different, but I’m the same guy I was two months ago, and I’ll be the same person two months from now no matter what happens. I don’t get too caught up in that stuff. I’m not going to sit here and say I told you so or anything like that because I’ve just been keeping my head down and trying to do the best I can.”
Scheffler’s best, as the world now knows, is better than all the rest. His victory in the RBC Heritage on Monday morning – a delayed conclusion due to a Sunday afternoon rainstorm – was Scheffler’s fourth in his past five starts. The only blip in his run is a second-place finish – by one stroke – to Stephan Jaeger in Houston last month. He leads the PGA Tour in 29 different statistical categories and he ranks second in five others.
Here’s how well Scheffler is doing:
- The RBC Heritage was his 10th PGA Tour win, and he needed only 51 starts since his first victory to do so. Only David Duval, who won 10 times in 33 starts, has done better.
- He has played 40 consecutive rounds at par or better, a run surpassed only by Tiger Woods, who strung together 52 such rounds in 2000-01.
- It’s not as if he’s beating chumps. According to the tour website, in seven of Scheffler’s last eight wins, the field has included at least eight of the top 10 players in the world ranking.
So what if he’s 93rd in strokes gained putting?
“I do have fairly high expectations for myself, and when I show up at tournaments, I try to do my best. I’ve talked a lot about kind of the preparation and what it takes for me to show up on a first tee ready to go, and I feel like I’ve been putting in the work and been playing some good golf, and it’s nice to be seeing some results for that with wins,” Scheffler said. “At times last year I felt like I was playing some good golf and wasn’t winning, and so now it’s nice to be sitting here winning some tournaments.”
In interviews, Scottie Scheffler seems as earnest as Andy Griffith. In competition, he’s as ruthless as John Wick.
There is, however, a glimmer of good news for everyone hoping to play the role of Stephan Jaeger one day soon. Scheffler doesn’t plan to tee it up in competition again until the PGA Championship at Valhalla next month because he’s about to become a father for the first time. That means no Zurich Classic of New Orleans this week, sitting out the CJ Cup Byron Nelson in his hometown of Dallas next week and likely bypassing the Wells Fargo Championship, a signature event, preceding the year’s second major championship.
Golf, as Scheffler said after winning the Masters, ranks fourth on his priority list, and he plans to walk that walk as the due date for his wife, Meredith, approaches.
The reality of being a parent, Scheffler conceded, hasn’t fully hit him and his wife just yet. While adjusting to all that comes with being a parent, Scheffler intends to be fully ready when he shows up at Valhalla in three weeks.
“Hopefully I’ll be a good dad. I’m going to do my best,” said Scheffler, whose parents, Scott and Diane, met him with hugs when he walked off Harbour Town’s 18th green Monday morning. While adjusting to all that comes with being a parent, Scheffler intends to be fully ready when he shows up at Valhalla in three weeks. It’s how he operates.
Scheffler offered a glimpse into his psyche when he suggested that had he not won at Harbour Town after putting himself in position to do so, it would have altered how he felt about winning at Augusta. “I think it would maybe take a little bit away from the win. For instance, if I came into [Sunday] with the lead and I wasn’t able to win, when you get home, people would be saying, hey, congrats, man, and then sorry about last week. That would be pretty annoying,” Scheffler said.
“There’s no better way to say it than that would be annoying. So, it was nice to come in here and put myself in position to win and to be able to finish off the golf tournament.”
