Johnson Wagner thinks Scottie Scheffler actually proved his greatness during the third round of Genesis Invitational

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Few would have ever imagined that Scottie Scheffler would post the joint-worst round of the day on Saturday at the Genesis Invitational after the world number one reached the halfway stage at Torrey Pines in second place on the leaderboard.

Scottie Scheffler finds himself in a similar position to last week’s WM Phoenix Open heading into Sunday at the Genesis Invitational, with the 28-year-old tied for eighth on three under par. He sits five shots back of the lead, which is currently held by Patrick Rodgers.

Scheffler would post a 76 during his third round at Torrey Pines. He made just one birdie in that round, while he made bogey on two of the par fives, and a double bogey on 14.

The statistics would suggest that putting was Scheffler’s biggest problem, with the two-time Masters champion losing more than three shots to the field on the greens. But it seems that it may be another issue that Scheffler needs to address more urgently.

Johnson Wagner reacts to Scottie Scheffler’s third round at the Genesis Invitational

Scheffler has hit just 22 of 42 fairways so far this week, often leaving himself in bother down the left hand side of certain holes.

But with that issue, Johnson Wagner has told Golf Channel just how remarkable he finds it that Scheffler is still very much in the mix to win going into Sunday.

“Starting on the sixth hole today, another pulled tee shot on the par five, and he pulls the seven wood out, he’s right under the lip. It hits the lip, gets over into the gallery and you think okay, he’s going to be fine, he can get this up on the green and make a par, maybe make a birdie. He hits a pretty good third shot, but then he runs his birdie putt a little bit too far by. And like we saw with Rory, Scottie Scheffler missing a really short putt. Obviously, hit it too hard,” he said.

“I think not only the sight lines for Scottie on this golf course, I think it’s the greens, they are incredibly challenging. The ninth, he hit it in the middle of the fairway, went for the green, left it over here, we’re so used to seeing Scottie Scheffler get this up and down like he’s done all week long. Leaves it short, actually left it short of the hole, makes another one.

“And then on 14, goodness gracious, he missed it left on Thursday, missed it left on Friday right on the edge of the penalty area. Today, it finally caught up with him. This one hits the bank, goes into the barranca over there. He has to drop, plugs it in the bunker, ultimately makes a double, and the unravelling just continued.

“Let’s go ahead to 16, the par three, I mentioned it when we were talking about Patrick Rodgers, another pulled iron shot. We’re so used to seeing Scottie Scheffler hit these pull cuts where they start left and they veer back. All week long, his misses have started left and have gone left. I’m not a fader of the golf ball, but I know a lot of faders of the golf ball. Anytime someone who moves it left to right has that left to left going, they struggle to even make a cut, so the fact that Scottie Scheffler still legitimately has a chance to win this is just a testament to how great a player he is.”

Scheffler’s struggles at Torrey Pines continue

It was a bit of a collector’s item for golf fans on Saturday, with Scheffler losing shots to the field in almost every single strokes gained category.

He was able to make up a little bit of ground with his approach play. However, everything else within his game proved to be so far off the level everyone has come to expect from Scheffler over the last few years.

Torrey Pines appears to be something of a thorn in Scheffler’s side. He has previously missed the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open on two occasions – with one of those missed cuts coming after he had actually opened with a 65.

But, as Wagner notes, Scheffler is not out of this yet. And if he gets off to the kind of start he made on Sunday in Phoenix where he was four under par through six, then there will certainly be a lot of nerves building elsewhere on the course.