Scottie Scheffler admits what’s been ‘odd’ about his golf game since he made his return to the PGA Tour from injury

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Scottie Scheffler is in a tie for fourth after the first round of the Genesis Invitational at Torrey Pines in San Diego.

Thick rough and blustery conditions tested the world’s best players on Thursday, and just 13 golfers are under par. What’s more, with the rain coming down, the PGA Tour confirmed preferred lies would be in use.

Scheffler appeared to be putting together the standout round on day one after making four birdies on his opening nine. However, the world number one made eight pars and a bogey to shoot 37 coming in (two-under total).

This week’s event at Torrey Pines is Scheffler’s third PGA Tour start since returning from injury, and the American has admitted one aspect of his game feels slightly off.

The ‘odd’ part of Scottie Scheffler’s game

Typically, Scheffler’s driving is one of his strong points. Yet, on day one of the Genesis, he ranked 28th for strokes gained off the tee.

“I felt like I swung it better than I have the last couple of weeks. Typically, If you look at last year, if I was to have results like I did, you would have seen something with my putting, I think. If I wasn’t competing last year, it was typically because of my putting and the last two weeks, I felt like it was odd in the sense that I wasn’t driving it very well,” Scheffler said in his post-round press conference.

“So today, I felt like I drove it a little bit better. I definitely hit some better iron shots, and I continued to putt nicely. So overall, I think it was a good building day, and hopefully, as the week goes on, I’ll continue to kind of improve my swing feels.”

When Scheffler struggles, his putter is usually to blame. His partnership with Phil Kenyon and improvement with the flat stick underpinned his success in 2024.

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Big names struggle on day one at the Genesis Invitational

Scheffler will be pleased to end the day two under, especially when looking at the overall scoring.

Towards the bottom of the leaderboard, Adam Hadwin is 11 over, Rasmus Hojgaard ten over and Rickie Fowler five over.

Jordan Spieth, who impressed at last week’s WM Phoenix Open, is four over. Meanwhile, Sepp Straka, who has been one of the stars of the 2025 season thus far, is six over.

Rory McIlroy, targeting his second PGA Tour win of the season, is level par after shooting 72.

Scottie Scheffler’s verdict on his score at the Genesis Invitational

When asked about his position after day one, Scheffler admitted he was pleased considering the conditions.

“Yeah, I think it was a mix of stuff. Today’s a challenging day, and this is a golf course that challenges you in a variety of ways,” Scheffler added.

“I felt like I did a lot of good stuff out there; I got off to a really good start and hung in there from there. Weather conditions were changing a bunch, and we dealt with a lot of different elements today, so overall, it was a pretty solid day.