Just when it appeared that there may soon a battle over the world number one position, Scottie Scheffler reminded everyone of his quality to win The CJ CUP Byron Nelson by eight shots on Sunday to secure his first victory of the season.
Scottie Scheffler has been knocking on the door for several weeks. He clearly grew tired of being polite however, and ended up blowing the door off its hinges at TPC Craig Ranch.
Scheffler dominated from start to finish at The CJ CUP Byron Nelson to win the event for the first time in his career. His worst score all week – by three shots – was a 66 on Saturday. And he ended up winning by eight in his home state.
Of course, Scheffler’s iron game was absolutely sublime. He gained almost 13 shots on the field when it came to his approach play.
Scottie Scheffler named the best player on the PGA Tour in two different categories
But perhaps he is not getting enough credit for another part of his game.
Scheffler is currently 92nd on tour for strokes gained around the green this season. But speaking on the Golf Channel Podcast, Ryan Lavner insisted that Scheffler is also the best player around when it comes to salvaging a score on the hole when out of position.
“What are the two hallmarks of his game? One, approach play. Iron play travels anywhere, it doesn’t matter the types of grass, it doesn’t matter the type of conditions – if you are a great iron player in 2025, that is the key determiner for future success. Scottie Scheffler is interesting in that he’s the best iron player on the PGA Tour, he’s also the best scrambler,” he said.
“I don’t care what the stats say, and I’m sure the stats say that he’s very good. He has an incredible pair of hands. And so, if he does get in trouble, if on the off chance he is out of position, or if he misses a fairway like we saw in the final round of The CJ CUP Byron Nelson and has to get up and down from 100 yards, he’s probably going to stick it to five feet. If he gets out of position, he’s in the bunker, he’s probably going to splash out to six feet, I believe that his average for the week was six or seven feet when he was scrambling.
“The guy is sick, and so, when you put that combination together, that is going to translate to a lot of different courses. That is why his game travels, that is why it’s almost flukey at this point that he’s only won The Masters, because you look at the other major championships, he is uniquely built and has the prerequisite skills for all those major championships to perform well, that’s why his record is so good.”
Where Scottie Scheffler does rank in the PGA Tour’s scrambling stats
Lavner may not care what the statistics say, but they do appear to back up his point emphatically – despite his underwhelming strokes gained around the green numbers.
According to the PGA Tour website, Scheffler is first for scrambling this year. He has missed 185 greens in regulation this season and still managed to make par or better on 132 occasions. That gives him a scrambling rate of 71.35 percent.
When he has that ability to bounce back so regularly, it is no surprise that so many of Scheffler’s rivals see him as this relentless competitor.
If he does not get you with a flawless iron shot, he will probably make up for it with a moment of brilliance further on.
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