Scottie Scheffler has not won a tournament yet this PGA Tour season. After he slipped on the Green Jacket last year, he had already won three times. Then, he traveled up the coast to Hilton Head and traded green for plaid, winning the RBC Heritage. After falling just short at Augusta National, he is back at Harbour Town Golf Links. Scheffler has moved on from the Masters and set his sights on winning the RBC Heritage.
Scheffler shared a shot of the ceremonial cannon shot that starts the tournament. He shot a Sunday 68 to beat Sahith Theegala by three shots at Harbour Town last year. When that putt dropped, it was his fourth win in five starts and his eighth consecutive top ten. The top-ten streak ran out to 11, surviving the birth of his first child and an arrest.
Last year’s performance was dominant, and this year’s performance has not been. Scheffler started the year injured from a kitchen incident and looked rusty when he came back. His iron play was not the usual perfection at Augusta, but his scrambling got him a top-five finish at The Masters.
There is a lot of hype around Rory McIlroy after he finally got the monkey off his back. But Scheffler is lurking.
Could Scottie Scheffler get back on track?
It’s patently insane to say any golfer with four top tens in seven starts is off track. But after winning nine times last year, it is not what anyone expected from Scottie Scheffler. The PGA Tour’s Signature Events were where Scheffler dominated last year, and the RBC Heritage represents the next hurdle.
Rory McIlroy will not play at the RBC Heritage after winning The Masters. That is certainly understandable after all of the emotions that came from Sunday. It would be big for Scheffler to pick up this win as a response to McIlroy’s triumph, reminding everyone who the boss is. The PGA Championship will be important for both as they look to build their legacies.
McIlroy has won at Quail Hollow four times. Scheffler has won their once with a solid President’s Cup appearance there as well. Throw Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka in the mix, and May’s major championship could be one for the ages. But Scheffler has to prove he has fully recovered from the injury, and RBC Heritage is the place to do it.
Scottie Scheffler tees off at 10:15 Thursday morning.
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