Scottie Scheffler made his return to golf action this week at Pebble Beach and while there was no victory, he wasn’t far away after returning from injury.
Scheffler finished in ninth on his return to golf after picking up a hand injury over the Christmas period which saw him miss the opening events of the season.
However, Scheffler very much looked not too far off his best and a score of 15 under par saw him finish just six off the eventual winner, Rory McIlroy.
The PGA Tour will be delighted to see their big hitters back and ahead of the WM Phoenix Open next week, Smylie Kaufman is already tipping Scheffler to get back in the winner’s circle.
Smylie Kaufman assesses Scottie Scheffler’s return after ninth place at Pebble Beach
Scheffler’s return is good for the whole game and having the world number one playing in tournaments is very much needed.
And according to Smylie Kaufman, the quality of Scheffler’s golf after just one event should be a worry for the rest of the field for next week.
“Well, I mean, a lot of normal for Scottie, which is iron game was good, puttied good. The round the green thing’s a little interesting. I kind of want to go a little bit more in depth to that to see exactly what it was that was a little off,” Kaufman said.
“I’m going to actually pull up my shot like now, just to see if there’s maybe some like outlier shot that skewed the stats for him to see why it was so low because still he finished T9, only six shots off the pace. But as far as just grading his performance, I mean, I think you just say solid B, you know, I don’t think anything to worry about with Scottie.
Going into next week’s event, Kaufman then predicted that barring a miracle, Scheffler will win again.
“I think if anything going into Phoenix next week, a place that he’s already won before and plays well at, I don’t see anybody beating Scottie next week. That’s, you know, it’s almost, I almost want to wait a week and pick him at like a Torrey Pines, but who’s beating him next week?
“I think if that’s what you’re seeing and, and you know, again, maybe you’ll dig further into shot length, but you know, the first thing that goes right is the short game or the putting when you have a little bit of rust. I mean, he said that even in periods when he’s taken time off, he’s still hitting golf balls.”
Scottie Scheffler told Rory McIlroy can challenge him
With Rory McIlroy winning and Scottie Scheffler back, the PGA felt back to a more normal place this week.
Seeing Scheffler play so well despite being out for a while is quite the sight and as Kaufman says, he could take some stopping this year, starting next week.
However, with McIlroy also playing well, there’s a big head to head to look forward to with the duo.
And according to Dame Laura Davies, McIlroy can outdo Scheffler when it comes down to it.
“That is a massive motivation. Tiger is now off the scene, he was always the bench mark, now Scottie Scheffler is. Scottie has got people chasing him. Well, Rory is the one, and Xander Schauffele took him as close as he could last year”, Davies said.
“Rory likes the challenge and making some changes. When you are at the top of the game we always say be careful what you change, but his changes are not dramatic. They are not full swing changes. They are just little things here and there and that’s why I think he could take Scottie right to the limit this year.”
Scottie v Rory is just what the PGA Tour needs and if it happens more than once, then fans will lap it up.
Receive exclusive golf news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
