PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – The world No. 1 is back to being more like the world No. 1.
After shooting over par in 36 holes for the first time at a non-major since the 2023 Memorial, Scottie Scheffler turned in a bogey-free 67 at the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on Saturday.
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“The first two days were a bit of a battle,” Scheffler said. “I was a little sharper today than I was the first two days. I felt like I was swinging it better each day of the tournament. Today hit a few more fairways and was able to give myself a few more looks for birdie.”
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Scheffler noted that he was “hacking it from some new places” off the tee the first two days.
He attempted to use TaylorMade’s new Qi4D driver at the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week but returned to the Qi10 that he has used to great effect since 2024. Scheffler ranked T-98 in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee the first two rounds. Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee broke down Scheffler’s swing Friday night on “Live From.”
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“I don’t even recognize this golf swing from Scottie Scheffler. It’s a foot-and-a-half shorter than last year and the face is wide open,” Chamblee said. “This is not a crisis, this is a bump in the road.”
Asked if he had found anything during his rainy range session on Thursday, Scheffler didn’t offer much.
“Did I find anything? I think that would imply that I was lost, which is not the case,” he said.
Pressed whether longtime swing coach Randy Smith had identified anything that had made a difference, he said, “I’m always just trying to get a feel for I think where my swing’s at. Whenever I can feel the clubhead, I’m in a pretty good spot. If you ever see us practicing, that’s typically what I’m trying to — if I’m searching for something, that would be kind of what I’m searching for, the feel for the clubhead, and so that way I’m kind of able to see and create shots.”
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On Saturday, Scheffler hit 11-of-14 fairways and was a perfect 9-for-9 in scrambling. He birdied the par-5 second hole but made par on the other three par 5s. For the week, he’s just 3 under on the par 5s, which that alone could be the reason he’s not in the hunt for a third Players title.
Scheffler capped off the day by canning a 12-foot birdie putt at the par-3 17th, which has the Tiger hole location from his iconic 60-foot putt he sank in 2001 on the way to victory. Scheffler improved to 4-under 212 and sits eight shots back of Ludvig Aberg, the 36-hole leader, who hadn’t teed off yet.
Asked if he was holding out hope to make an improbable comeback, Scheffler laughed and said, “Not unless it starts blowing like 30 miles an hour.”
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Scottie Scheffler denies being ‘lost’ after 67 at Players Championship
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