It is important to break Scottie Scheffler’s opening round 7-under 64 at the AT&T Byron Nelson into thirds to completely comprehend it.
His performance in the first six holes was a dominant display that brought to mind both the 2022 Masters and THE PLAYERS Championship earlier this year.
Four birdies were made in the first five holes, 72 feet of putts were made, and to top it all off on the driveable sixth par-4 hole, a chip-in for eagle was made. It’s challenging to get off to a better start.
The following seven holes served as an apt summary of the few occasions Scheffler’s season has gone wrong: a sudden cold streak with the putter. As good as Scheffler can manage to appear while holding the flat stick. The No. 2 player in the world has experienced a disadvantage with the stick at favorable moments. In the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational earlier this year, he lost roughly two shots to the field, which denied him the chance to win.
He was also excluded from the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play final because of it.
On Thursday, Scheffler missed birdie putts of 12, 8, and 4 feet, three-putted twice, and missed a 7-footer for par on the 13th par-4 hole.
He is eight strokes back at 3-under behind Seung-yul Noh after going from 6-under.
Mid-round, I was feeling fairly upset. I didn’t feel like I was doing anything wrong; I just sort of got the short end of a few things, and by the middle of the round, the putts were clearly not dropping.
Okay, so perhaps there was a sign that Scheffler’s Day wouldn’t happen during the game.
The closing five holes may have been the most revealing of any of them, representing the player Scheffler has developed into in recent years, rising from a regular in the top 20 to one of the best in the world.
Scheffler rebounded with a pair of birdies on holes 14 and 15, following back-to-back bogeys on holes 12 and 13. On the challenging 15th, 220-yard par-3, he made an 18-footer for birdie after driving the green on the 14th’s par-4 and two-putting from 38 feet for his opening stroke.
The only eagle of the day at the 18th par-5 was the cherry on top for him.
Scheffler hit his 258-yard approach shot from inside 15 feet while facing the wind in the opposite direction, and he sank the putt to elicit one of the loudest cheers of the day for himself.
“I hit a number of excellent putts today and was fortunate to have a good round, but I’ll always remember those ones at the end of the round and beginning of the round,” he said.
Due to mid-round errors, Scheffler is currently four strokes behind Noh (-11), but if the final five holes are any indication that he has already recovered from his worst golfing stretch this week, it is unlikely that he will be behind for very long.
