Scottie Scheffler may not have won at Torrey Pines, but his strong finish should put everyone else on notice.
LA JOLLA, Calif. — Scottie Scheffler played nowhere near his potential at Torrey Pines, even carding a 4-over 76 during Saturday’s third round, his worst score in nearly three years.
Yet, Scheffler still managed to tie for third, finishing three strokes behind Genesis Invitational winner Ludvig Åberg.
“I didn’t have my best stuff this week, but I still found a way to give myself a chance in the tournament,” Scheffler said after.
“A few less mistakes over the weekend and it could be a different story.”
Scheffler hit only 30 of 56 fairways and found only 48 of 72 greens this week, much below his typical high standard of play. But he’s the best player in the world for a reason, and Sunday’s final round proved that.
He fired a 6-under 66 — 10 strokes lower than the day before — to give himself a chance. Even then, Scheffler looked dead in the water on the par-4 15th. He was 8-under for the championship, trailed Maverick McNealy by three shots, and needed a miracle. So, Scheffler decided to fire at the back left flag from the fairway but was surprised to discover where his ball ended up. It found the greenside bunker.
“I hit a really good iron shot into the green there,” Scheffler said of his approach.
“When I hit it, I felt like I stuffed it, and the ball kept drifting left somehow with the wind off the left, so that didn’t really make a ton of sense.”
After that initial shock, Scheffler settled down, assessed his lie in the trap, and decided to take dead aim again. He knew he needed to make something happen, and that he did. Scheffler holed it for an unlikely birdie, keeping his hopes of winning alive.
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“In a tournament maybe if I have a one- or two-shot lead, I may play out to the left, give myself a look. Just with the way the shot was in the bunker, it was kind of on a downslope,” Scheffler said of his third shot on 15.
“If I played it a little to the left, I’m going more up the upslope. But since I was a few back, I felt like I needed to aim for the pin and see if I could make something happen and was fortunate to see that one go.”
Unfortunately for Scheffler, he tugged his tee shot at the par-3 16th into the greenside bunker. He failed to get up and down for par, all but ending his chances.
At least, you thought.
Two holes later, Scheffler blistered a 3-wood into the par-5 18th, a perfect left-to-right cut shot only he could have drawn up. His ball settled 15 feet past the flag, thus giving himself an eagle chance. He needed to make the putt to post a 10-under score, which may have been enough to force a playoff by day’s end. Alas, Scheffler missed on the low side, settling for a birdie and a 66. But that shot on 18, when he needed to give himself an eagle look, is one more reason why he’s the best player on the planet.
He hit the shot when needed, just as he did on 15.
Earlier in the round, he did the same. Scheffler rattled off five birdies on his opening nine holes, shooting up the leaderboard and sending shockwaves around Torrey Pines. He did what he needed to do: he got off to a good start and gave himself a chance. But Scheffler still showed some signs of rust, even during Sunday’s final round — an understandable reality given that this week marked just his third start of the season.
“It’s not easy to come out here and play competitive golf at a high level and get right back to where I was last year, losing those weeks that I had at home where I couldn’t do anything. I think some of that makes it even more impressive what Tiger’s able to do off of his surgeries and long layoffs and just come out and compete with us is pretty miraculous,” Scheffler said, referencing the injury he sustained on Christmas Day.
“I’m trying to give myself a little bit of grace and some patience getting back into the swing of things. I did some things in the last few weeks that I’m happy with and definitely some things that I need to improve on.”
No doubt Scheffler has some work to do, but he still ranked third among the field in strokes gained tee-to-green. He had his ‘C-plus’ game at best and still almost won the tournament. Imagine if he had his ‘B-minus’ game — or if he somehow scrambled to an even-par 72 on Saturday. He would have won the golf tournament, despite playing nowhere close to what he is capable of.
That should scare the rest of the golfing world, especially since Scheffler will make his next start at Bay Hill, where his historic run to glory began a year ago.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Follow him on X @jack_milko.
