New Haven Register (Sunday) (New Haven, CT)
World No. 1 Scheffler looked the part Saturday
CROMWELL — Once he's off the course, Scottie Scheffler doesn't take much interest in the sport he has taken over this year. He doesn't obsess about his standing, the play of those around him, the ramifications of his latest day of work.
He hits a little white ball around — better than anyone on the planet, in recent months — and just rests and resets in looking toward doing it again the next day.
“I'll go home and chill and do nothing for a little while,” Scheffler said after posting an early 5-under 65 on Saturday at the Travelers Championship, a round that pushed him far enough up the leaderboard to position him as some kind of a factor on Sunday. “Not going to watch golf. Never been a huge golf watcher.”
Scheffler worked his way to 10-under par for the tournament Saturday. He is seven shots behind leader Xander Schauffele, tied for 11th with three other players.
There is only a remote possibility that Scheffler can overcome that margin and that many golfers to win Sunday.
But in a weird week that started with conversation about the potential disintegration of the tour and continued with a driver-less golf cart sinking into a pond, followed the next day by Jason Kokrak's shot out of a bunker and into outer space leading to disqualification … who knows?
Maybe stranger things have already happened.
The largest come-frombehind victory in tournament history came in 2005, when Brad Faxon entered the final round trailing leader Justin Rose by seven shots and posted a 9-under 61 before defeating Tjaart van der Walt in a playoff.
Odds are, Scheffler doesn't know that and probably wouldn't care to.
“Maybe go out and do something crazy tomorrow and see what happens,” he said after his round, not knowing what his deficit would be because he played much earlier than Schauffele. “I have no idea what the leaderboard's going to look like. I would like to have made a few more birdies and put myself in a better position but can't go back in time.”
Scheffler doesn't have to make history Sunday.
It's nice, though, that he spent Saturday making the tournament more interesting.
When the No. 1 player in the world looks like the No. 1 player in the world, when one doesn't have to scroll very far down the leaderboard to find name and fame, it validates the excitement that follows their commitment and precedes their first tee time.
Scheffler received a warm welcome to the 18th green as he wrapped up his round.
“It was a hot day,” he said. “Usually these days don't feel too hot for me, being from Texas, but we've been up here for so long, kind of getting used to the cold weather. It was definitely cool to get that ovation. The fans have been
nothing but good to me this week. It's been a lot of fun playing in front of them and to get their support and kind of that last burst of energy walking up the hill on 18 was a lot of fun.”
Scheffler is staying in a house this week, he mentioned upon arrival. He dropped right into the heart of the Cromwell community and that's pretty cool, he said, especially with the one-minute commute to TPC River Highlands.
A year ago, Scheffler could walk pretty much anywhere, right down Golf Club Road in Cromwell or Broadway in Manhattan, without being recognized.
But now he's atop the rankings, his meteoric rise being the story of the sport before that sport was splintered by all the talk of the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. He's a headlining player whose image was splashed all over tournament advertisements.
Scheffler is playing the Travelers for the third time, and for the first time as a household name. He missed the cut on an empty course in 2020 and tied for 47th last year. Soon enough, his life changed.
Scheffler made his Ryder Cup debut in the United States' 19-9 victory at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin in September and the easygoing Texan, 26, has made history in 2022, reeling off four victories in a twomonth span.
The $1.56 million Scheffler pocketed with a tie for second at last week's U.S. Open pushed his season earnings to $12,896,849 — the most ever earned by a player in a season. He won his first tour event in February and two more in March. His victory at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play in Austin, Texas, where he went to college, pushed him to the No. 1 ranking.
And he won the Masters in April, three shots ahead of Rory McIlroy, who earlier this week pointed out all the money Scheffler has won in an effort to explain PGA Tour earning potential, and generally praised Scheffler's dominance.
“He's been on a tear, and he's been threatening to go on a tear for a while,” said McIlroy, ranked No. 2 in the world. “It doesn't seem like he has been on tour that long, but he very quickly got the title of best player never to have won on tour, and then he broke that dyke earlier this year. He's such a consistent performer week-in, week-out.”
Scheffler has gotten better with each round, shooting 68-67 to enter the weekend at 5-under, then making five birdies without a bogey on Saturday.
“I would have liked to have made a few more birdies, but no bogeys is always good,” Scheffler said. “Keep the card clean. … I just avoided the mistakes. The first two days I missed some putts maybe I should have made, some shorter ones. Today I was a lot more solid inside 10 feet. Probably the only difference.”
Then he went “home.” Not to watch golf while on the edge of his seat. Just to chill.
“Maybe turn it on in the background,” he said.