Scottie Scheffler stumbled in Phoenix. His response revealed something about his greatness

There are many layers to Scottie Scheffler’s greatness.

Jordan Spieth explained one aspect of it better than anyone could as the World No. 1 romped to a win at the Open Championship at Royal Portrush.

To Spieth, Scheffler’s superpower lies “less in the golf swing and more so the personality.” Scottie Scheffler, Spieth said, is one guy inside the ropes. There, he knows exactly what he needs to do, what he wants to do and how to get to that point. But when Scottie Scheffler isn’t working, he’s not working. He’s just a dad and a husband. He can detach the second the clubs go in the bag and has no interest in using time and energy in monetizing his name and talents off the course.

“He has that unique ability to, from best I can tell, to separate,” Spieth said. “It’s more so the difference in personality from any other superstar that you’ve seen in the modern era and maybe in any sport. I don’t think anybody is like him.”

That came just days after Schefler’s existential press conference to open the week at Royal Portrush, where he talked about the fleeting happiness that comes from winning and explained that while he loves being great at golf, it “does not fill the deepest desires of his heart.”

The ability to not be consumed by golf is freeing for Scheffler. It allows him to plug in and plug out, which helps keep him level as he continues to dominate the golf world.

For most of the past four years, Scheffler has made everything look easy. He’s won at Augusta twice. He became the only player to repeat at the Players. He won the PGA Championship and the Open. He has won here, there and everywhere while leaving the rest of the world’s best searching for ways to close what at the moment feels like a chasm that can’t be traversed.

While all those little things help make Scottie Scheffler Scottie Scheffler and separate him from most, there’s something else that allows him to levitate above everything. Something that’s rarely discussed because it’s seldom seen.

But it was there on Thursday night in Phoenix, when Scheffler walked off the course after a bizarre opening-round 73 that had him in danger of missing the cut at TPC Scottsdale. It’s a position we rarely see Scheffler in. It won’t take you long to count the number of tournaments he has been a true non-factor in over the last few years. Scheffler hasn’t finished outside the top 10 in a tournament since last year’s Players, when he was still shaking off the rust from an offseason ravioli injury. The last time he missed a cut? The 2022 FedEx St. Jude Championship. In the age of no-cut, limited-field events, that stat doesn’t mean what it used to. But it’s still noteworthy that we rarely see Scottie Scheffler miling around in the middle of the pack, and he doesn’t exit the premises early.

Scheffler doesn’t believe in trying to “find” something mid-tournament. To him, the work is done in the prep and you arrive with what you’ll need for the week. But sitting at T-86 after an opening-round stumble that included a flubbed chip, Scheffler went to work. Not to fix something for a future tournament or prep for later, but because Scottie Scheffler, like all elite athletes, only has one speed. If there’s something to fix, it gets fixed. There are no “down weeks” or “off days.” To waste an opportunity to get better is to sacrifice something you can’t get back. And because there is still time to win. They don’t hand out the trophies on Thursday.

“Yesterday was a dig-it-out-of-the-dirt type of day in the afternoon,” Scheffler said on Friday. “I try to avoid those as much as possible at tournaments, but after the way I felt over the ball yesterday, it was definitely needed. I almost was so discouraged I almost didn’t even want to go practice. I went out there, and it was well worth it.

“You look at days like today. I had an awful day on the golf course yesterday all around pretty much. So to come out to today, stay really patient, especially after not getting off to a great start, to stay patient, grind it out, put myself back into a position where — I’ve put myself in contention from this exact position in this golf tournament, and it’s one of those places you can get hot. That’s what I’ll be looking to do over the weekend.”

Scheffler fixed something in his grip, which led to a better ball-striking day in the second round and a six-under 65 that put him inside the top 30. He backed that up with a 67 on Saturday and will have at least an outside shot at winning his third WM Phoenix Open on Sunday.

Scottie Scheffler was frustrated on Thursday in Phoenix. It was an uncharacteristic display from golf’s dominant force. He left the course dejected that his pre-tournament work, which he prides himself on, didn’t yield the desired results.

So Scottie Scheffler went searching because part of true greatness is never giving in — never allowing yourself to be complacent with something that doesn’t meet your standards. Never being out of the fight, even when everyone would understand if, just this one time, you were.

“Definitely take a lot of pride in days like today,” Scheffler said after making his Friday charge. “It’s nice to get myself back in the tournament. Sometimes it feels like there is nothing worse than missing cuts.”

Scottie Scheffler left the course on Thursday in a tie for 86th. On Sunday, he’ll have a chance to win. That’s the value in never letting go of the rope.

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