Scottie Scheffler looking at a
blank canvas as he goes for a 3rd straight Players Championship
[March 12, 2025]
By DOUG FERGUSON
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The Players Championship has four
decades of history at TPC Sawgrass suggesting it doesn't favor a
particular style of golf — power player or pea shooter, great short
game or consummate iron player. And then Scottie Scheffler came
along.
In one of his more remarkable performances in an astonishing season,
Scheffler nearly withdrew in the second round with a neck injury,
made three late birdies Saturday to at least stay in range, then
overcame a five-shot deficit to win with a 64.
He became the first back-to-back winner of the PGA Tour's premier
tournament, which means next to nothing to the world's No. 1 player
as he goes for three in a row.
“What does last year’s tournament have to do with this year?” he
said Tuesday after playing a nine-hole practice round with Sam
Burns, Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele.
“What does that have to do with what I’m trying to do this week? Not
much, right? Like, do I start 1 under? Do I start at 2 under?” he
said. “It’s great to have won this tournament the last two years,
but can I rely on some of those experiences when I step up on the
first tee and give myself a little bit of confidence? Yes. If I
missed the cut here last year, am I going to be like stepping on to
the first tee and be like, ‘Man, I duck-hooked that one last year, I
better not duck-hook it again.’ You know?”
That's how he feels about all of 2024, when he won nine times —
seven on the PGA Tour, including the Masters and The Players, the
Olympic gold medal outside Paris and the Hero World Challenge
holiday event in the Bahamas.
New year, new chapter.
He hasn't turned many pages, all because of some ravioli. Scheffler
cut his right hand on a wine glass he was using to cut ravioli over
Christmas, an injury that required surgery and kept him out of
competition until February.
The results have been mediocre by his standards — certainly the
standard last year. Scheffler does not appear to be the least bit
impatient.
“Last year is last year. I’m not trying to replicate it. I’m not
trying to look back on it,” he said. “At the end of the day, it’s in
the past. It was a great year. I’m tremendously thankful. I lived a
full lifetime in a year. A lot of great things happened, and I’m
very thankful for that.”
He faces another course that can yield low scores and big numbers,
against a field that is as strong as the PGA Tour can offer.
[to top of second column] |
Xander Schauffele checks his line before putting on the 18th
green during the third round of the Tour Championship golf
tournament, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Jason
Allen, File)
“It's the kind of course where you need a lot of things to go right
to be in the mix,” said Adam Scott, who won at Sawgrass in 2004 and
hasn't seriously contended since then. That's true for a lot of
former Players champions.
“If you're not on, it's hard to always post a good number here, hard
to get it in the clubhouse the last three holes,” he said. “I think
Scottie was the first guy to successfully defend last year, so it’s
been challenging for every champion.”
Scheffler isn't the only player off to a slow start. PGA and British
Open champion Xander Schauffele played the season opener at Kapalua
and then sat out two months waiting on a rib injury to heal. He
returned last week at brittle Bay Hill and did well to make the cut
for the 58th straight tournament on the PGA Tour.
Schauffele is another example of the how the TPC Sawgrass doesn't
reward past results. He was a runner-up in his debut in 2018. He was
a runner-up last year. In between were a trio of missed cuts and a
pedestrian tie for 19th.
Asked for an explanation, Schauffele hinted at what TPC Sawgrass
does favor.
“Scottie won it two years in a row,” he said. “Someone that has the
whole package is going to play well here. You're hitting a lot of
fairways, you can shape the ball off the tee, short game’s wicked,
you can get a little bit of relief on the greens.”
Schauffele got a closer look during that practice round on a
gorgeous day, with the rain having cleared and a dry, sunny forecast
for the week. He didn't get into details on the nine-hole match
against Scheffler and Burns except to say he wasn't a winner.
“He’s not like hitting it 50 yards past anyone,” Schauffele said.
“He’s just hitting the extra fairway more than someone. He’s hitting
it closer than everyone, and he’s chipping it closer than everyone.
“It's definitely something I take note of, but it seems like
clockwork to me now.”
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