Who is Scottie Scheffler?
That would be the answer to the following Jeopardy question: He is the top-ranked player in the world without a PGA Tour victory.
At No. 14 in the Official World Golf Ranking and No. 15 in the Golfweek/ Sagarin Rankings, Scheffler has been one of the most consistent performers on the Tour. He added Ryder Cup stud to his resume in September, teaming with Bryson DeChambeau in Four-Ball and knocking off World No. 1 Jon Rahm in singles on Sunday. At 25, the former U.S. Junior champ, All-American at Texas and 2019 Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year, already has shot 59 in a FedEx Cup playoff event, had a chance to win a major on Sunday and a host of Tour events, most recently at the Houston Open, but victory remains elusive.
Scheffler seems to take it all in stride. Ask him if he considers being the top-ranked player a compliment or a diss and he says, “I don’t really think about it.”
Count CBS golf commentator and six-time major champion Nick Faldo among those who expects Scheffler to rack up the wins shortly.
“He’s the classic example of a player learning every week. He’s in there a lot, which is the best way to learn,” Faldo said.
Scheffler nearly notched his breakthrough win here at the American Express in 2020, finishing third after getting off to a sluggish start. But he doesn’t attribute that to rookie nerves.
“Looking back on that round, other than the start, I really played some solid golf. I got a few weird breaks here and there and didn’t make as many putts as I had in the beginning of that week,” he said.
Would he believe that he’d still be searching for his first win two years later?
“I don’t really look too far ahead, so if you were to tell me half the things I accomplished on Tour since then I probably wouldn’t believe you with that,” he said. “It’s just you don’t really know where the next day’s coming and for me, I’m just out here playing and enjoying myself.”
Scheffler missed the cut in Las Vegas at his first start of the new season following the Ryder Cup but keeps knocking on the door, recording three top-5 finishes in his last six starts including the Hero World Challenge. Not too shabby for a player who typically gets off to a slow start in the wrap-around season.
“This is really the first time I could remember since probably college where I played pretty good in the fall. I don’t know why,” he said. “For whatever reason, the fall was always kind of tough for me.”
Big things are expected of Scheffler, who has a well-rounded game, this season. As a testament to his ability to rack up top 10s – 17 in 68 starts, which is an impressive clip of one in every four Tour starts – Scheffler noted that there wasn’t any particular part of his game that he was targeting for improvement.
“I just need to keep making those incremental improvements,” he said.
CBS reporter Colt Knost has known Scheffler since he was seven years old at Royal Oaks Golf Club in Dallas. “I knew back then that he was something special,” Knost said. “That first win is coming very, very soon. I wouldn’t be surprised about when he wins if it isn’t a big one.”
Could this be the week Scheffler no longer is the answer to the Jeopardy-style question of who is the top-ranked player without a Tour win? He says he just wants to be in contention on Sunday.
“I’ve always performed well in those moments and for me I’m just looking forward to getting back there,” Scheffler said.
