Scottie Scheffler has got some work to do if he is going to make more history at the Players Championship and become only the second ever three-time champion at TPC Sawgrass.
It was 2022 the last time Scottie Scheffler did not finish his week at TPC Sawgrass by winning the Players Championship. The world number one became the first player to ever retain the title last year.
And he is certainly in the mix after the opening round on Thursday. Scheffler is currently tied for 20th on three under par – three shots off the current leaders. Given some of the scores out there on day one, there looks set to be plenty of drama ahead.
But Scheffler is in a position he has not been in for more than 12 months now. The 28-year-old has gone four tournaments without winning on the PGA Tour. And while he has a couple of top 10s this year, he has not quite looked like himself so far.
Scottie Scheffler ‘grumpy’ after the opening round of the Players Championship
Of course, Scheffler was always set for disappointment if he looked replicate or better his 2024 season. But it does appear that he is far from happy with where his game is at the moment.
Speaking on the Golf Channel Podcast, Rex Hoggard explained what he had noticed about Scheffler’s demeanour on day one at Sawgrass.
“Scottie is grumpy. We just left the scrum area where Scottie was doing his interviews and he kind of bite your head off over a pretty mundane question about the golf course. I am not trying to be mean or funny or trying to stir up controversy. But he is grumpy, which is understandable as he is not playing the game the way he is accustomed to playing it. It is as simple as that,” he said.
“If you break it down statistically he wasn’t quite as good today as he was last week at Bay Hill, when it seemed he was back being the normal Scottie Scheffler. That means stroke gained tee to green he was either one or two, which he was last week. Strokes gained off the tee he is either one or two, which he was last week. That wasn’t the case at all today. Look, the putting is going to be frustrating. I just glanced at it and think he was 99th [actually 88th] in the field in strokes gained putting. It’s not as though this isn’t something he hasn’t dealt with in the past. But all of these things combined I think the level of frustration is clearly there.
“He doesn’t particularly like to voice those things, so when he is in a situation when everything is not going his way and he’s frustrated, it’s certainly understandable. But the takeaway is that Scottie is grumpy.”
When Scheffler has previously lost his cool on the PGA Tour
It was notable how little frustration Scheffler showed in 2024. Obviously, he was winning on a consistent basis, and he was usually in contention when he did not get across the line.
So when Scheffler lost his cool at the BMW Championship, it really was striking. The world number one could not get to grips with the change in altitude at Castle Pines, and endured a miserable week by his standards.
But there have already been outbursts in 2025. Scheffler smashed a club into his bag in frustration at the WM Phoenix Open as his slim chances of victory were dashed by a 41 on the back nine on Sunday.
Anyone who has played golf at any level knows how frustrating it is when you go from your best round to suddenly struggling to make contact with the ball with no obvious reason to explain why that has happened.
So Scheffler probably is finding it difficult that he is not invincible like he was for most of 2024. But the results he is still getting certainly send out an ominous message to his rivals.
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