The historic Masters Tournament, held yearly within the first full week of April, successfully units the schedule for the PGA Tour. The dates fall to April 11-14 this 12 months — the primary time since 2019 — that means an additional event on the highway to Augusta National.
As a end result, the highest gamers are having to make some changes — World No. 1 and 2022 Masters champion Scottie Scheffler is on the Houston Open, making an attempt his hardest to win but additionally fine-tuning his recreation with an eye fixed on slipping into the coveted inexperienced jacket once more.
Steady Scottie
His title defence got here aside final 12 months, with the American conceding that he “just didn’t have it”. But it’s a measure of Scheffler’s consistency — an more and more recurrent theme in his profession — that he nonetheless completed in a tie for tenth, eight strokes behind winner Jon Rahm.
Indeed, it’s Scheffler’s high quality of invariably being in rivalry that makes him so exceptional. Elite sport is performed between the ears — and golf, due to the intense ranges of precision it calls for in a changeable atmosphere, is a extreme psychological check. Scheffler’s capability to deal with success and failure alike has allowed him to constantly cope with these emotional challenges.
Just weeks in the past — proper earlier than he earned $8.5 million for successful two large trophies in a span of 10 days and erased any questions on whether or not he deserved to be ranked No. 1 — he spoke about how rapidly he can neglect the previous, win or lose.
“I don’t celebrate accomplishments that well. I don’t feel like I dwell on failures that much either,” Scheffler mentioned. “If you ask my wife, she would say I need to celebrate more.”
The celebration after he received the Arnold Palmer Invitational concerned cheeseburgers within the clubhouse along with his household, adopted by a two-hour drive to the TPC Sawgrass. The day after Scheffler grew to become the one participant in 50 editions of The Players Championship to win again to again, he was texting his swing coach about their follow schedule.
The 6’3” American has an enormous recreation, however it’s guided by a process-oriented method.
“I try not to place too much emphasis on results, good or bad,” he mentioned. “I show up to try and perform my best and hopefully win. But when I stand on the tee on Thursday, I’m not thinking about the trophy ceremony at the end of the week. I’m just trying to be committed to the shot.”
Leading the world
Scheffler’s newest victory on the Players pushed him over $50 million for his PGA Tour earnings in simply 5 years. He has been at No. 1 since final May, and his hole over everybody else is the most important since Dustin Johnson seven years in the past. Barring harm, he has an opportunity to develop into the primary participant since Tiger Woods in 2009 to maintain the No. 1 rating for a whole calendar 12 months.
Scheffler is taking part in nice golf, measured as a lot by his elite ball-striking and alarming consistency because the outcomes. He now has 9 victories in opposition to the strongest fields — certainly one of them a small discipline within the Bahamas — within the 25 months since he received his first PGA Tour title. Equally spectacular is his 65% price of ending within the high 10.
Last 12 months, he had the perfect statistical season since Woods, main the tour in all of the vital classes from the tee to the inexperienced, together with scoring. He had the seventh-lowest adjusted scoring common (68.63) in PGA Tour historical past — the highest six belong to Woods — and completed exterior the highest 10 solely six instances in 23 tournaments.
To keep emotionally steady, Scheffler doesn’t spend a lot time on social media. He additionally takes precautions not to pay attention or examine himself.
“Let’s say I remember all the good things. Then I walk around with a big head thinking, ‘This is how great I am.’ That’s not good, either,” Scheffler mentioned earlier than his most up-to-date run. “If I read the bad stuff, that’s all I’m going to remember. ‘Scottie can’t putt. He hadn’t won in a year. Is he the best player in the world?’ It’s a losing game.”
Mostly what retains him grounded are the folks round him. His mom has been a chief working officer for legislation companies in New York and Dallas, and his father stayed at dwelling with Scheffler and his three sisters.
Tiger’s path: Golf is all the time in search of the inheritor to the throne, and so it’s no shock that Scheffler has drawn comparisons with Tiger Woods. But the 27-year-old has not let it get to his head. | Photo credit score: Getty Images
His spouse, Meredith, is pregnant with their first baby, due across the finish of April. She’s the one who informed Scheffler on Sunday morning of the 2022 Masters, when he awakened with tears and self-doubt, “Who are you to say that you are not ready?” He wound up successful his first Major.
The Woods comparisons
Golf is all the time in search of the inheritor to the throne, and so it’s no shock that Scheffler has drawn comparisons with Woods. But the 27-year-old has not let it get to his head, conscious that Woods spent greater than 13 years as No. 1, together with a report 281 consecutive weeks.
“Anytime you can be compared to Tiger is really special,” Scheffler mentioned. “But I mean, the guy stands alone. I’ve got 14 more Majors and 70-some PGA Tour events to catch up. So I’m going to continue to plod along, try and stay as even-keeled as I can.”
Scheffler additionally is aware of that whereas his consistency continues to draw admiration, he wants to win extra, particularly on the Majors. With the game divided after the appearance of LIV Golf, financed by the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, solely the 4 Majors see the complete roster of nice gamers, and it’s at these iconic tournaments that Scheffler should show his superiority.
Change of substances: If there’s a chink in Scheffler’s armour, it’s his contact on the greens. To deal with this weak spot, he lately switched from a blade to a mallet putter, saying he ‘lines this putter up well in the middle of the face’. | Photo credit score: Getty Images
To try this, he should make sure that his placing stays strong. Long recognized to wrestle on the greens, Scheffler switched from a blade to a mallet putter lately. “I like not having to line the ball up,” he mentioned. “I line this putter up well in the middle of the face. It’s very good visually.”
But as vital to Scheffler because the swap to a mallet model was a redressing of his psychological recreation. “It’s not like I’ve been a bad putter my whole career,” he mentioned. “I’ve just gone through a tough stretch. I’m still working on the same fundamentals. Golf is a hard game. … The more free and loose I can play, especially on the greens, usually the better off I am.”
Scheffler’s newfound power with the mallet putter might have his rivals nervous, however he’ll know that Augusta’s unforgiving, undulating greens will likely be a fierce check. What he can even know, nonetheless, is that he has battled doubts and mastered them beforehand.
A second inexperienced jacket, which can double his Majors tally to two, will verify his standing as the present undisputed high canine in golf. But he won’t be getting forward of himself. When he stands on the tee on April 11, the one factor he will likely be excited about will likely be his first shot.
