LA JOLLA, Calif. — There he is again, off in the distant rough some 20 yards left of the cart path, behind a 30-foot tree, winds howling, playing some of the stranger golf we’ve seen him play in a long time (by his standards). But this is where he’s been all day. So this seems to be natural. Scottie Scheffler just leans on his iron with his left hand behind his back. Chillin’. Waiting until his turn.
When that turn arrives, Scheffler nonchalantly fades it over the tree and up to the front of the green with the surrounding crowd just shaking their heads in awe. Another missed fairway. Another par. Others, he turned into birdies. The No. 1 player in the world couldn’t find a fairway for his life Friday. Just five found in 14 attempts. Yet he shot a bogey-free 67 to sit one back of the lead at the Genesis Invitational.
Scottie Scheffler is still rounding into tournament form. The best are still playing catch-up.
Two months ago, Scheffler broke a wine glass making homemade Christmas ravioli and stabbed his palm to the point he needed surgery. Two weeks ago, he made his season debut. Five days ago, he shot a frustrating Sunday back nine 41 to fall out of contention at the WM Phoenix Open. Nobody expects Scheffler to be right back to his 2024 form. Most never reach that level in the first place. But what puts Scheffler in a category of his own is when he doesn’t have his best stuff, he can still take control of a tournament.
On No. 11 (his second hole of the day), his par 3 tee shot went way left of the crowd and bounced off the cart path twice to end up 50 yards away on the next tee box. He stuck a pitch 3 feet from the pin for a par.
His drives on 12 and 14 nearly went out of bounds. He parred both with ease.
On 4, he drove it right and to the edge of a bunker, having to use a wood to athletically hit a shot so awkward his leg looked like it was about to snap as it dipped into the bunker. No concern. He muscled it enough to find the rough near the green, and from there he put a lofty pitch to 3 feet from par.
On 6, he found a greenside bunker and picked it out like an artist, rolling into the hole for eagle.
Scheffler’s bogey-free 67 was, per Justin Ray, just the seventh time in 40 years a golfer found five or fewer fairways at Torrey Pines South and shot that low. He hit at least three tee shots that missed so far they went behind the crowds and could enter the weekend playing the final group with leader Davis Thompson.
“I think a lot of it was missing on the correct sides,” Scheffler said Friday afternoon. “I think that’s part of shaking the rust off from being injured as well as the short game’s continuing to improve as I start to play more. It was definitely good to have a day like today where I felt like I didn’t play flawless golf, but the scorecard was clean.”
Don’t try this at home 😬 pic.twitter.com/ghJOVHa8LY
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 14, 2025
We know what Scheffler is. He’s on a three-plus-year run of consistently elite golf the sport hasn’t seen extended like this since Tiger Woods. Since the start of 2022, he’s won 16 times, won two Masters green jackets and been world No. 1 for a total of 126 weeks. That’s not news. But history says a dip usually comes around now. Maintaining this kind of success is extremely rare. Rory McIlroy had struggles after his fourth major. Jordan Spieth went into a three-year abyss after a three-year peak. Brooks Koepka won more majors but never played with week-in, week-out excellence like Scheffler. Even Woods took a (relative) dip in 2003 and 2004 before his next historic run.
Yet there’s so little reason to believe that’s coming, and days like Friday in San Diego are why. It’s assumed Scheffler will have some rust coming off hand surgery. Nobody blinked when he faded Sunday in Phoenix because he’s getting back into tournament form.
The scary part about Scheffler, though, has always been how he can thrive despite setbacks or strange surroundings. He lost strokes putting in 2023 and maintained No. 1 status. He started his absurd nine-win 2024 at Bay Hill using a new putter for the first time. He won The Players a week later despite injuring his neck in the second round and “slapping it around.” He won the Masters despite one of his weakest iron performances of the year. He and his wife, Meredith, welcomed their first child in May, and he won five more times including coming from six back to shoot a Sunday 62 for Olympic gold. There’s always something going on, and he still wins. His superpower is his ability to maintain a high floor through savvy, intelligence and mental toughness.
Which is why Scheffler feels so right thriving here at the difficult Torrey Pines South in tough, windy conditions. His first-round 70 despite the worst weather of the week was enough to put him toward the top. And Scheffler tends to win when the field fades and he can maintain.
So here he is again, one back of Thompson, one ahead of Denny McCarthy with reigning Pebble Beach-winner McIlroy three back of the lead through 36 holes. It is setting up for a challenging, tense weekend to win a signature event.
It’s unlikely anybody will judge Scheffler by how well he actually plays. But if he can win, it will make it official: Here comes another year of Scottie.
(Photo: Orlando Ramirez / Getty Images)
