Scottie Scheffler will be looking to get off the mark with a win at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson this week.
Scheffler has been incredibly consistent on the PGA Tour this season, with five top-10 finishes in eight events to his name.
However, he’s still looking for his first win of 2025, and he’ll be hoping that all changes at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson in McKinney, Texas this week.
Scheffler tees off at 12:33pm local time at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson on Thursday alongside his good friends Jordan Spieth and Si Woo Kim.
The folks in Dallas would have been delighted when Scheffler made a last-minute commitment to play at TPC Craig Ranch.
With a run of really important tournaments coming up now, Scheffler will be desperate to rediscover the dominant form that he displayed in 2024.
And where better to kick off his season with a win than his home state?
Scottie Scheffler claims there’s been a change to the golf course at Bryon Nelson tournament
The 28-year-old American is a Dallas native, and he has played at TPC Craig Ranch on numerous occasions in the past.
The golf course has usually been a real birdie fest.
Over the past four times that TPC Craig Ranch has hosted the CJ Cup, 23 under-par is the worst score to have won the tournament.
However, that may well change this year.
Scheffler spoke to reporters on Wednesday and responded when asked about the changes that have been made to the course:
“The fairways being narrower, I think it’s really good. I think this golf course, the knock on it would be that it was a little bit too easy the last two years. There wasn’t a ton of rough, and the fairways were too generous. So having the overseeded rough and bringing in some of the fairways, I think brings a challenge to the course.
“I think that’s a good thing. I think putting more of a premium on guys getting the ball in play and not just hitting it as far as you can, I think it’s a really good thing for the golf course. We’ll see how it plays out this week.“
With the course set to be more challenging this year, it should suit Scheffler more.
If it was a putting contest, as Jon Rahm put it a few years ago, Scheffler wouldn’t have thrived as much as he does around difficult and demanding layouts.
What Scheffler said after the RBC Heritage should scare his rivals
Whilst Scheffler hasn’t won so far this season, he has clearly been very close to doing so.
All it will take is one or two little tweaks and a few more putts made during the tournament and then he will unquestionably be back inside the winner’s circle very soon indeed.
He obviously thinks he’s close to winning again. Scheffler told reporters two weeks ago how his best stuff is not far away, after his third round at the RBC Heritage:
“I feel like I’ve been hanging in there the last couple of days. I had a day on Thursday where I played really good, and then the last two days have been a bit of a battle out there, I’m not exactly sure why that is. I’ve kept myself in the tournament right now, I think I’m five back and only three back of second. So I’m still right in the tournament, a great round tomorrow goes a long way. I feel like I’m really close,like for instance today I get a really good bounce on 10, goes to about 10 feet, hit a really good putt and it didn’t go in. Next hole I hit kind of a wild tee shot and I make back to back bogies. I hit a decent punch shot over the green into the bunker and I have absolutely no shot to get on the green. Little stuff like that, I knew I couldn’t go over the green there – the miss was short and I hit it long. Just little things like that I need to improve on. Today was a day where I was close to getting it going. I did a lot of good things out there today and if I keep it in there mentality and keep doing the things I’m doing I think tomorrow could be a great day”
Remember, Scheffler has contended to win this season in five out of the eight events that he has played, whilst having nowhere near his best stuff.
When it clicks for the American, his rivals had better watch out.
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