DUBLIN, Ohio — Scottie Scheffler hits a tee shot on the fifth hole during the first round of the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday at Muirfield Village Golf Club on June 01, 2023. | Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images
Scheffler, the number one ranked player in the world, got off to a tough start at Jack’s Place, but recent history shows he will bounce back.
Scottie Scheffler has had a terrific season: he has a pair of victories, two top-10 finishes in majors, and now is the number-one ranked player in the world.
His first win came in the desert, where he won the Waste Management Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale.
The Phoenix Open marked the PGA Tour’s first designated event of the season, tournaments that feature $20 million purses and high-caliber fields.
In addition to these eight designated events, the PGA Tour lists the Sentry Tournament of Champions, the Players Championship, and the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play as elevated events with massive purses.
In these tournaments, Scheffler is 95-under par, according to NUCLR Golf Stats. He has dominated the designated/elevated events so far this season.
Best score to par in designated/elevated events so far in 2023:
Scottie Scheffler, -95
Jon Rahm, -74
Patrick Cantlay, -70
Viktor Hovland, -54
Xander Schauffele, -53
Scheffler has been dominate pic.twitter.com/j8xG71gzDl
— NUCLR GOLF STATS (@NUCLRGOLFSTATS) June 1, 2023
Scheffler and Jon Rahm, who won the 2023 Masters Tournament, have rotated in and out of the number one ranking in 2023.
Yet, Scheffler is the undisputed number one player in the designated/elevated events. Rahm is 21 strokes behind Scottie thus far this season.
The former Texas Longhorn ranks first on the PGA Tour in strokes gained: off the tee, strokes gained: tee-to-green, total strokes gained, and greens-in-regulation percentage.
The one flaw in Scheffler’s game is his putting, as he ranks 114th on tour in strokes gained putting.
Despite that, his short game is terrific overall. He ranks 6th in scrambling percentage, getting up-and-down 66.3% of the time.
Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images
DUBLIN, Ohio — Scottie Scheffler hits from the first fairway during the first round of the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday at Muirfield Village Golf Club on June 01, 2023.
Nonetheless, Scheffler got off to a poor start at the Memorial, shooting a 2-over par 74 in round one, the first time this season he opened a tournament with a round over par.
A three-putt led to one bogey on the par-3 4th hole, while troubles with his wedges led to three other bogeys at the 16th, 2nd, and 8th.
But knowing how Scheffler has played this season, he will put this opening round behind him.
