Scottie Scheffler had something of a nightmare by his own high standards at the WM Phoenix Open as he ended up finishing down in 25th after a frustrating few days.
Despite briefly threatening to turn on the afterburners and make a run at the leaders, Scheffler never quite got going properly and in the end, tumbled down the leaderboard.
Scheffler shocked fans with a mini meltdown during round three and looked a touch more agitated than he normally does.
As we know, Scheffler is coming back from injury and can probably be excused for not being fully up to speed just yet.
However, after Scheffler worryingly dropped below his usual standards from the fairways, golf analyst Rex Hoggard has now suggested he too is worried about Scheffler’s drop off.
Rex Hoggard concerned by Scottie Scheffler at the WM Phoenix Open
After Scottie Scheffler struggled in part of his game that he’s normally so good in, it was a pretty big shock to onlookers to see the world number one struggling so much.
And speaking on the latest episode of the Rex and Lav podcast, Rex Hoggard admitted to being shocked by Scheffler’s lack of form.
“It’s the seven greens in regulation. And it’s actually his ball striking stats, period. He didn’t putt very well, I don’t think anyone gets too concerned when it comes to Scottie not putting very well. But strokes gained off the tee, 22nd in the field. Strokes gained tee to green, 36th. Here is the one that gets me. Strokes gained approach, 30th. When is the last time he was 30th in approach play? That does not happen,” Hoggard said.
“We talked about this last week and I have flipped. I am not going to lie. Last week I was much more concerned about Jordan [Spieth] as I pointed out there was statistically and in the way he played, there was nothing there that was going to lead me to believe that he is close to turning this around. He has said to better than anyone else that is going to be a process.”
“I did not have any concerns last week for Scottie. This one concerned me, just not statistically based on what normally he does well. Had he putted poorly and driven the ball poorly, I could have written that one off about just rust, hasn’t been competing in a while, still may be recovering a bit from injuring his hand.
“The idea that he is 30th in strokes gained approach. I would challenge anyone to find out when the last time he finished 30th in strokes gained approach. That doesn’t happen and the other half of it, we saw it, the emotions got to him and that doesn’t happen very often with Scottie. Good or bad. He doesn’t seem to get flustered one way or another, but he clearly got flustered this time around on a golf course he has had success on, so he probably had some sort of expectations coming into this week and it just wasn’t there, not necessarily for the first two or two and a half rounds, but certainly as he finished up the weekend and that has to be aggravating to him.”
2023 putting stats come back to haunt him at the WM Phoenix Open
Scheffler very much struggled on the greens once again this week and there were signs that his struggles of 2023 were coming back.
Indeed, Scheffler was ranked outside of the top 100 in terms of strokes gained in putting in the opening two rounds at TPC Scottsdale.
| Scottie Scheffler 2024 stats | |
| Strokes gained | Rank |
| Putting | 95th |
| Off the tee | 2nd |
| Approach to green | 1st |
| Total | 1st |
However, given he is the world number one, Scheffler is likely to see this as a blip and he’ll hopefully overcome such issues quickly.
If not, then the rest of the field on the PGA Tour may well sense an opportunity to pick up a few more wins than they might expect.
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