HIDING AT THE TOP
Scheffler enjoying success on course while dodging fame
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — The same player has occupied golf’s No. 1 world ranking for the past 43 weeks, and 77 overall dating back to 2022. Yet that player could walk down Fifth Avenue while toting golf clubs over his shoulder and go as unnoticed as the local mail carrier.
Scottie Scheffler has won seven times on the PGA Tour since 2022, including a Masters, and yet there’s nothing about him that fits the aura and profile of a star the way it did for the likes of Rory McIlroy or Jon Rahm during their recent reigns at the top of the sport.
And here’s the thing about that: The 27-year-old Scheffler, who spent his early youth growing up in North Jersey before his family moved to Dallas, doesn’t give a damn.
Other than his mind-bendingly consistent golf swing and nearperfect ball striking, that’s perhaps the biggest reason he’s remained at the top of the sport, with no hint in sight of his dominance waning.
Scheffler doesn’t define his life by golf, how many tournaments or major championships he wins, or where he’s ranked.
“I don’t really think about that kind of stuff,’’ Scheffler said in advance of his defense of his title at this week’s Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass.
Asked what has allowed him to remain so grounded and unaffected by all he’s accomplished, Scheffler called that “a nice compliment, so thank you.’’
“I think I attribute it mostly to my faith, but I also have a great upbringing,’’ Scheffler said. “I have great parents. I have a great wife. We have great friends at home. So, I’m surrounded by a lot of people that really don’t care very much whether or not I won last week [in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, which he did].
“At the end of the day, if I shot 75 on Sunday, I think Monday would have looked pretty similar to how it looked this week, besides maybe a few extra text messages in my phone that I received.’’
For the record: The day after he won at Bay Hill, Scheffler appeared at TPC Sawgrass to work on his game. Most players, the day after winning, wouldn’t be anywhere near the next tournament’s golf course. They’d be sleeping in and chilling out somewhere.
Not Scheffler, who’s become a silent assassin in the game.
“It’s ridiculous how good at golf he is,’’ Justin Thomas, who’s paired with Scheffler for the first two rounds, said Wednesday. “In terms of him being under the radar, I think that also kind of speaks to him. He doesn’t care about social media. He doesn’t care about popularity. He just loves golf, and he’s just a grinder, and all he wants to do is just play really, really well and practice a lot, and that’s what he does.’’ Scheffler’s idol, Tiger Woods, held the No. 1 ranking longer than anyone in the sport’s history, and defined aura and star power. But there’s something unique about Scheffler that prevents him from having either of those things. “I don’t know what more you could ask from a super-mega star,’’ Max Homa said. “I saw somebody on the internet say he’s boring, and I would imagine that’s what you would dream of: To become the best player in the world and someone who is going to set records and win a bunch of majors, you want to play as boring of golf as you can, you want it be as even-keeled as you can. You would think that’s what you would build in a lab.’’
Homa called Scheffler “the most consistent [player] I’ve ever really seen.”
“I’ve never seen anybody hit the ball quite like that every day,’’ Homa said. “He had the week at Memorial last year where he lost by one [shot], and I think he was like 18 strokes gained putting behind the leader. That’s terrifying.’’
In case you hadn’t heard, putting has been the bane of Scheffler’s existence for the better part of the past year. He went 19 tournaments without a win before winning at Bay Hill for the second time in the past three years, having switched to a mallet putter and putting better than he had in memory.
McIlroy, when asked on TV last month at the Genesis about Scheffler’s putting holding him back, suggested him going to a mallet putter.
Asked about that Wednesday, McIlroy joked, “I’m not going to give him any more advice, that’s for sure.’’
Homa said every time he watches Scheffler do an interview after winning, “it just seems like he’s really got it figured out.’’
Everything but the star and fame thing.
“I would recognize him walking down the street,’’ Homa said. “If I was a fan of golf, I would gawk at how impressive he has been.’’