Scheffler leaves peers on tour in awe
As the world’s No. 1-ranked golfer, Scottie Scheffler has started to hit legendary status. And that was before he won the last two tournaments he played on the PGA Tour.
Finishing second to Scheffler at the Arnold Palmer Invitational as well as The Players Championship was 2023 U.S. Open winner Wyndham Clark, who likes being challenged by the best.
“I would love for us to be battling it out every week,” Clark said Wednesday. “He’s the (measuring stick) of us trying to get to be as good as he is. He hits it better than everyone else, and now he’s starting to putt good. It’s amazing to watch him play and see what he can do.
“He’s pushed me to get better. As far as rivalry, we don’t have one, but it would be fun if every week we were battling it out, and I win one week, he wins the other week. I would take that right now. That would be awesome.”
It could happen this week. Scheffler and Clark, two of the hottest golfers going, are in the field for the Texas Children’s Houston Open, which runs Thursday through Sunday at Memorial Park Golf Course.
“When you show up at a tournament being No. 1, I don’t start at 1 under, I don’t start at 2 under — I start at even,” Scheffler said. “You’ve got to approach every week the same. You’ve got to put
in the same amount of work. You’ve got to show up prepared.”
Defending Houston Open champion Tony Finau recalls the first time he played a competitive round with Scheffler. It is hard being witness to a 59 on a scorecard and not realizing what’s transpiring, but it pretty much happened to Finau.
Finau has been a teammate of Scheffler on Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup teams. But the first time Finau played in a grouping with Scheffler was history-making. It was at TPC Boston in round 2 of the 2020 Northern Trust during Scheffler’s rookie season.
“After nine holes, I think he shoots like 7 under or whatever,” Finau said. “I’m not really paying attention, kind of focused on my own game. We got to No. 17, and he makes another birdie. I look over to my caddie, and I’m like, ‘Man, this guy’s got to be 8 or 9 under.’ And my caddie’s like, ‘How about 11?’
“Anyways. he birdies the last hole to shoot 59. I was playing with him, and that was the first time I heard of him, first time that I played with him. Maybe not the first time — I vaguely knew who he was coming from the Korn Ferry Tour. I knew he was a good player. But anyways, that was the first time I played with Scottie. He shot a 59, and I knew he was special from that moment on.”
Chandler Phillips, who contended last week before finishing third at the Valspar Championship, goes further back than Finau with familiarity of the 6-3, 200-pound Scheffler.
Phillips and Scheffler competed as junior golfers. Phillips, who grew up in Huntsville, is 27. A resident of Dallas, Scheffler is also 27.
In high school golf, Phillips’ Huntsville team and Scheffler’s Dallas Highland Park squad were in the same classification. They competed against each other for three years, with Scheffler winning the individual state championship all three.
After Scheffler took his talents to Texas, Phillips, then a senior, finally won the individual state championship.
“I was kind of glad when he left,” Phillips jokingly said. “But now I get to play against him out here (on tour), and it’s awesome seeing what he’s done.”
The reigning PGA Tour Player of the Year and an eight-time tour winner, Scheffler is tops in 2024 FedExCup points. He pocketed the first-place prize of $4.5 million two weeks ago at The Players Championship, becoming the first person to win the tour’s flagship event in consecutive years. His 20-under score was one better than Clark, Xander Schauffele and Brian Harman.
Scheffler has a track record of being a winner. A natural allaround athlete, he occasionally skipped high-profile junior golf tournaments so he could play in high school basketball games, not letting his team down.
One year at the state high school golf tournament, Phillips remembers, Scheffler showed up in something close to a boot protecting a foot. Scheffler had a brace on his left ankle and was limping, having rolled the ankle playing in a pickup basketball game the week prior.
When Scheffler got up to hit his shots that week, he tilted his foot.
“He cocked (the ankle) way out almost pointing toward where he was hitting because he couldn’t turn on it,” Phillips said. “And he ends up winning state. I’m just like, man, get out of here. He’s just a freak athlete. He’s unbelievable.”