AUGUSTA, Ga. — Well, well. Look who’s near the top of another leaderboard.
Scottie Scheffler.
Surprised?
You shouldn’t be.
Scheffler, the No. 1-ranked player in the world, is playing like an unstoppable force at the moment. Nothing fazes him.
He powers on from tournament to tournament unaffected by his ranking and the pressures of living up to it or by his perceived putting struggles.
After a rather modest 2-under 34 on the front nine in Thursday’s Masters opening round, Scheffler shot 32 on the back to finish with a 6-under 66.
Scheffler doesn’t lead the tournament — he trails leader Bryson DeChambeau’s opening-round 65 by one shot — but his presence is felt.
DeChambeau, on a day when the opening round was delayed 2 ¹/₂ hours because of heavy rain and thunderstorms, was brilliant.
He called his 65 “one of the best rounds of golf I’ve played in a long time,’’ which is saying a lot considering he won a LIV Golf event with a final-round 58 last season.
When play was suspended at 7:51 p.m. due to darkness because of the late start, 27 players had not finished their respective opening rounds.
So, the rest of the first round will be completed, beginning at 7:45 a.m. Friday, and the second round will begin at 8 a.m.
One of the players who didn’t finish was Tiger Woods, who’s 1-under through 13 holes.
Woods will play 23 holes on Friday in his effort to make the cut for the 24th consecutive time, which would set a Masters record.
While Scheffler was still on the golf course in the midst of his round, DeChambeau was shooting his sterling 65, a score that was so impressive in the blustery winds that it didn’t look like anyone would come close to it in the afternoon.
Scheffler did.
Of course, he did.
Scheffler, the 2022 Masters winner, entered the tournament with two wins and a runner-up as his lead-up to this week. He’s simply in contention in every tournament.
He said when he saw DeChambeau’s 65 on the leaderboard during the round, “I thought to myself, ‘Wow, that’s a really good round of golf,’ and I kind of put my head down and focused on what I was doing. I wasn’t really thinking too much about my score out there. It’s the first day of the tournament. I was just trying to hit good shots and stay patient out there.
“You cannot force yourself into making birdies around this golf course. It just doesn’t really lend itself to that, especially with the high winds.’’
Scheffler said his patience “has definitely gotten better over time, certainly as I’ve matured as a person, as well.’’
“I typically expect a lot out of myself,’’ he went on. “So, when things aren’t going the way that they are supposed to be, especially when I was younger, I would get pretty frustrated. And I try to manage myself a lot better than I did back then, and I’m seeing some good results of that.’’
Scheffler has never finished outside of the top 25 in 13 of the 14 major championships in which he’s played.
“I’ve always liked playing challenging golf courses, and the majors, I think, are the most difficult golf courses that we play,’’ he said. “It excites me. I like playing against the best players. And these tournaments I think excite me a little bit, and I try to use that energy for some enhanced focus.’’
It seems the only thing that can stop Scheffler at the moment is his wife, Meredith, who’s back in Texas due at the end of this month with their first child.
Scheffler has said he’ll withdraw from the Masters if she’s about to give birth.
“As far as her going into labor, I wouldn’t say I’m very concerned,’’ Scheffler said. “We haven’t seen any of the early signs. But pregnancy is weird. It can happen at any time. Yeah, open lines of communication and she can get a hold of me if she needs to. I’m ready to go at a moment’s notice.’’
That would certainly help the rest of the Masters field should that happen.
“Scottie does such a good job of … it doesn’t look like it’s 6-under par and then at the end of the day it’s 6-under par,’’ Rory McIlroy, one of Scheffler’s playing partners, said. “He’s just so efficient with everything. If you look at Scottie compared to the rest of the field, the amount of bogey-free rounds he plays and he shoots is phenomenal.’’
Scheffler played bogey-free on Thursday, which was quite a feat considering the conditions.
“That’s the secret to winning major championships and winning big-time golf tournaments — more limiting the mistakes rather than making a ton of birdies,’’ McIlroy said.
Said Scheffler: “It’s always nice getting around here bogey-free. I was just kind of excited to get the week started, and so far I’m off to a good start.’’
As usual.
