Scottie Scheffler bounced back in style on day two of the WM Phoenix Open on Friday.
Scheffler posted an opening round of two-over-par 73 at the WM Phoenix Open on Thursday, ending his streak of 33 consecutive rounds of par or better.
It looked like the 29-year-old world number one was in danger of missing his first cut on the PGA Tour since 2022 but of course that didn’t happen.
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He shot a brilliant second-round 65 at TPC Scottsdale, despite still not being anywhere near his best.
It was hard to believe just how poor Scheffler was during his first round at the Phoenix Open on Thursday.
Scheffler declined to speak to the media at TPC Scottsdale after his round; that’s how frustrated he was with his golf.
But in typical Scheffler style, he bounced back superbly on Friday with a round of six-under-par.
Who knows? Perhaps Scheffler’s opening round was just what he needed. Maybe it helped him guard against complacency, go back to basics, and do what he does best.
Scottie Scheffler reveals the change he made before his second round in Phoenix
Scheffler’s second round actually got off to a fairly slow start on Friday, and he didn’t make his first birdie until his fifth hole.
However, that ended up being the first of six birdies he made on day two in the Arizona desert.
While the man from Dallas, Texas, was nowhere near his scintillating best, he played smart golf and didn’t make any of the silly mistakes which littered his opening round on Thursday.
Scheffler spoke to reporters after his second round and revealed the one change he made after his horror start to the tournament on Thursday.
“Yeah, I’ve always been a proponent of saying, you can’t really find it during the tournament week,“ Scheffler said.
“But I found a little something in my grip yesterday that seemed to really help me. Get my hands more securely on the club and yeah, I struck it much better today.
“So, yeah, I felt a bit lost out there at times yesterday, so today, I felt a lot better, I felt more in control of my game, and you can obviously see that through the, you know, a cleaner card today.“
So, Scheffler proved himself wrong and actually did find something midway through a tournament.
Maybe the American has just unlocked a new level? He never thought that finding form midway through a golf tournament was possible, but now he has proven to himself that it very much is.
He was then asked to elaborate on the exact change he made with his grip.
“I mean, it’s kind of hard to explain, but just get my hands a little bit more securely on the club is how I describe it,“ the world number one said.
Scottie Scheffler’s WM Phoenix Open stats: Day one vs day two
Scheffler was clearly in much better form during his second round than he was on day one.
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He beat his first round score by eight shots.
Now the challenge for him will be to go low on Saturday and put himself into contention heading into Sunday.
| Stats | Scheffler’s first round rank | Scheffler’s second round rank |
| Strokes gained off the tee | 68 | 23 |
| Strokes gained approach | 80 | 14 |
| Strokes gained around the green | 118 | 23 |
| Strokes gained putting | 51 | 27 |
| Strokes gained total | T-89 | T-5 |
The world number one has an uncanny knack of hanging on the coattails of the leaders, even when he’s not playing well.
Would it actually surprise anyone if Scheffler was in contention at the WM Phoenix Open come Sunday afternoon?
It might actually be more surprising if he’s not.
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