Golf is a game where the scorecard usually offers a reflective explanation of how golfers have actually played, but for Scottie Scheffler, the numbers he’s been writing down are extremely misleading.
There is obviously no need to panic just yet. Scottie Scheffler continued his comeback at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on Saturday, with a super-solid round of 67.
He has battled back hard after a poor opening round of 72 and it’s also worth remembering he has a win and a T-3 finish in the two events he has played on the PGA Tour so far in 2026.
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However, after the world number one finished his round at Pebble Beach on Saturday, he looked like he had just been through a real battle out on the golf course.
The reason for that is obvious. He isn’t completely comfortable with his game right now, and the stats back that up.
Scheffler has really struggled with his irons at Pebble Beach this week, and it has been so strange to see him look like a mere mortal with his approach play at times.
It’s no exaggeration to say that Scheffler has been the best iron player on the planet for three years now.
His clubface control is unrivalled at the top level of the game but he has been a shadow of his usual self this week on the Monterey Peninsula.
Scottie Scheffler left with more questions than answers at Pebble Beach
Scheffler lost strokes to the field yet again in the strokes gained approach category on day three at Pebble Beach.
That has happened for three rounds in a row now.
Scheffler spoke to reporters after his third round on Saturday, and responded when asked about the current state of his game.
He highlighted a potential reason why he’s not hitting the ball as close to the pins as he usually does.
“Yeah, I feel like I’m close to doing some good stuff,“ the 29-year-old said.
“It’s just around this place it’s challenging in some spots. Like it’s hard to tell how firm and how soft some of the greens have been. Most have been pretty soft, but there’s a few — there’s a shot I hit in today, it actually bounced forward with a wedge and I just couldn’t figure out how it happened.
“Hit a couple where I just kind of misjudged how far the ball’s going to come back.
“Like 1’s a good example of that where I felt like I hit it right where I needed to and just lands in that wall kind of back and it comes off if it lands a little short. So just little things I could have done better, but overall keeping a clean card’s never the worst thing.
“But yeah, definitely would have liked for a little lower score today.“
So Scheffler is struggling with his spin control it seems. However, the reason why he now has more questions than answers after his third-round 67 is that the majority of the field are not having the same problems as the world number one.
That means that the difficulty he’s had controlling his spin is more to do with his technique than the softness of the greens at Pebble Beach.
Scottie Scheffler ‘excited’ when he misses fairways at Pebble Beach
Scheffler is one of the best and most consistent drivers of the ball in the professional game.
He has actually driven the ball well this week. However, it seems like he’s pretty happy whenever he misses a fairway at Pebble Beach.
The 29-year-old explained exactly why that is after his round.
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“A lot of the greens pitch back to front and it’s pretty soft out there,“ Scheffler said.
“So like you look at a hole like 16 today is a good example where I hit my drive over that bunker and I’m watching the marshal go out to flag it and I’m happy that the ball actually stayed in the rough.
“It gives me almost a better chance to get the ball close to that pin because there’s so much pitch there, the greens are so soft that any amount of spin you put on the ball is going to be challenging.
“So I tried a lot today from the fairway and so that one I was almost excited it was in the rough.“
Scheffler needs to sharpen up with his irons if he is to record his 18th consecutive top-10 finish on the PGA Tour this week at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
In order to do that, controlling his spin better on Sunday will be crucial.
The worry right now is that Scheffler seems to be completely baffled by how receptive the greens are. Having more questions than answers is never a good thing at the very highest level of elite competition.
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