If any PGA Tour player other than Scottie Scheffler was told that they would have five top 25 finishes under their belt in 2025 after the Players Championship, they would likely be happy with what seems a very promising start to the season.
It is easy to forget just how well Scottie Scheffler has performed at the start of the year. The world number one missed the opening weeks of the season due to a hand injury sustained over Christmas.
And yet, since his return, Scheffler has not finished lower than 25th on the PGA Tour, while he has two top 10s, as well as a tied 11th finish at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Nevertheless, it is nearly impossible not to make comparisons with where he was at this stage last year.
Scheffler won at Bay Hill and at the Players Championship in 2024 – giving him incredible momentum heading into the Masters, which he would also win for a second time.
Scottie Scheffler’s underwhelming form discussed after the Players Championship
This time however, Scheffler is yet to open his account for victories for the year. And after being well out of contention at TPC Sawgrass this past week, some will be wondering what the difference is this season.
But when asked whether the hand injury may still be causing issues one way or another, Smylie Kaufman insisted on The Smylie Show that the problems are much more basic than that.
“I think it’s just golf, I just think he’s not playing quite as well. He never really has dominated on the west coast, and last year, Bay Hill was when everything started going for him. And this was just a weird week,” he said.
“Even the last two weeks, we’ve had some wind – Thursday at Bay Hill, that was crazy. And a very difficult golf course in which he didn’t putt very well. Then this week, he was paired with Xander and Rory. Right from the get-go, my expectations might have been up a little higher, Saturday and Sunday were difficult days of golf. He didn’t quite play to the level which we’ve seen him. It doesn’t mean he’s not going to go win a bunch of times this year.
“I would say last year heading into Houston for him, we didn’t really care to see, okay if he didn’t win Houston, we’d be like, ‘alright, fine, we know what we’re going to get out of him come the Masters’. But it feels like his last start before Augusta this year, it honestly feels like, from my perspective, we kind of need to see him win again.”
Why the Texas Children’s Houston Open presents Scheffler with a point to prove
There is a chance for Scheffler to avenge a slightly frustrating week in the near future. The 28-year-old won four times in five starts this time last year, with victory at the RBC Heritage coming in his first tournament after the Masters.
The one blemish came at the Texas Children’s Houston Open where he finished well down the leaderboard – in a tie for second. It was Stephan Jaeger who won that week, with the German finishing one shot clear of the quintet which included Scheffler.
So perhaps a win this time around would give Scheffler a much-needed boost to his confidence before he heads to Augusta National.
But, whatever happens, we are still some way off casting any doubt over whether he can win the first major of the year next month.
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