Scottie Scheffler’s iron play – usually his biggest strength – let him down badly during day one of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, with a Strokes Gained Approach of -2.149, well below his 2025 PGA Tour season average of +1.291.
Scheffler‘s average proximity to the hole during his opening round at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am was 42.9 feet – only four players recorded a worse average on Thursday.
With iron play like that, the current world number one was always going to struggle on Pebble Beach’s notoriously tricky Poa annua greens, and it’s no surprise that he lost 2.341 strokes on the field in the strokes gained putting category.
Scheffler’s iron play is envied by even the very best golfers on the planet – Jack Nicklaus likened the 29-year-old’s clubface to control to his own during his prime.
But why did Scottie Scheffler struggle so badly with his approach play on the Monterey Peninsula on Thursday?
His iron play this season has been well below the standards he has set himself over the past few years. He ranked 47th in strokes gained approach at the American Express and 19th at the WM Phoenix Open.
And his performance with his irons on Thursday at Pebble Beach was the worst we have seen from him in quite some time.
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He is currently sitting 10 shots adrift of the leader, Ryo Hisatsune, with three rounds left to play.
The reason for Scottie Scheffler’s poor iron play at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am
One thing’s for sure; Scheffler will have worked hard on the range on Thursday afternoon with his coach, Randy Smith.
Something’s not right with his iron play right now and he’ll be determined to get to the bottom of it before the huge PGA Tour events start to come thick and fast.
Scheffler’s swing was quite clearly out of sync on Thursday in Monterey.
However, the really worrying thing for him would have been that he didn’t have any control of his clubface – something that he has excelled at over the past three years.
During his first round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, his hands were far more active in his swing than they have been before.
This is proven by the fact that four of the seven greens he missed in regulation were pulls to the left.
In addition to that, he missed to the left side of the green on two of the three par-fives which he went for in two.
When your body hangs back and your hands take over, left misses are almost always the end result (for right-handers).
When pro golfers use their hands more than their body to turn through at impact it means that they feel out of position with their big muscles, so try to overcompensate with their hands.
It must have felt totally alien to the world number one out on the golf course on Thursday.
Scottie Scheffler’s 72 at Pebble Beach equalled his unwanted record from 2020
Scheffler’s opening round of even-par 72 was a big surprise.
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However, his tournament got off to an even worse start at the WM Phoenix Open last week.
Scheffler carded a round of 73 at TPC Scottsdale, but he still managed to finish in a tie for third.
However, Scheffler posting back-to-back opening rounds of even-par or worse is so unlike him.
In fact, the 29-year-old hasn’t done that since 2020, when he posted two consecutive opening rounds of par or worse at the Tour Championship and the Sanderson Farms.
Perhaps Scheffler’s opening round at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on Thursday will be the wake-up call he needs.
Golf is never an easy game to master – some may say impossible. However, it does seem like it is too easy for the Dallas native at times.
His opening round 72, and his incredibly poor iron play, will serve as a real reminder for him that he needs to work even harder on his swing now, despite everything he has already achieved in the game.
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