The only golfer on the PGA Tour who could potentially have stopped Scottie Scheffler at The CJ Cup Bryson Nelson has been named

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It would take a brave person to bet against Scottie Scheffler securing his first PGA Tour win of the season at The CJ CUP Byron Nelson, with the world number one eight shots clear of the chasing pack at TPC Craig Ranch.

It has felt like a matter of time until Scottie Scheffler secures his first win of the season on the PGA Tour for a little while. The 28-year-old has been playing about as well as he possibly could without getting across the line this year.

Nevertheless, he would have been forgiven for having doubts. Phil Mickelson publicly predicted that Scheffler would not win before the Ryder Cup. And something was just not quite clicking for him this year.

But that appears set to end on Sunday. Scheffler is eight shots clear at The CJ CUP Byron Nelson with one round to go.

What lead Scottie Scheffler would have at The CJ CUP Byron Nelson with a signature event field

Of course, some may be tempted to downplay how impressive Scheffler’s victory would be. Sungjae Im is the only other player in the field inside the top 30 in the world rankings right now.

But speaking on Golf Channel, Tripp Isenhour insisted that Scheffler would boast a similar lead had there been a signature event field at TPC Craig Ranch this week.

“I don’t care where you are, anywhere on any tour, when you build an eight shot lead, and if it’s the PGA Tour – which are the best players in the world – yes, some of the other top ranked players are not in this field, but if they were, they would still be about eight shots behind, unless it was someone like a Rory McIlroy clicking on all cylinders. That would be the only way that you see that separation, because I guarantee you it would be no different if this was a signature event on this, unless there was, like I said, one of the top players getting really, really hot,” he said.

“But one of the things I love about what he said there is, well two things: one, he said the decision to finish, he said, ‘well, even if it would have cost me one shot finishing in the dark, it would have saved me a shot tomorrow in the fact that I would’ve had to get up tomorrow at 4am and go through a process to warm up and then have to warm up again’, so great decision making by Scottie Scheffler, and that shows where he is in the moment thinking currently and making great decisions. And that’s one of the keys to playing great golf.

“The other key to playing great golf is, as he said, in a 72-hole tournament, you’re going to have a stretch where you’re not on all cylinders, you’re not firing. I talked about it before – today was that day, and he shot five under par without his best stuff. That says everything that you need to know about Scottie Scheffler. He would separate himself from even the best players in the world right now the way he’s playing.”

Scottie Scheffler making a statement ahead of the PGA Championship

Obviously, Scheffler will not be getting carried away. Bigger leads have – occasionally – been thrown away over the final 18 holes. And the two-time Masters champion is not someone who will deviate from his plans just because of the size of his lead.

But it is most definitely a real statement ahead of the PGA Championship. For many weeks, many were stunned by Scheffler finishing in the mix while almost looking rusty. He was fourth at Augusta National despite not having his A game by any means.

Scheffler has rarely played at Quail Hollow throughout his career. However, this likely win could be such a game-changer for his season. It must not be forgotten that Scheffler was well-placed at Valhalla last year before the emotional toll of his dramatic arrest finally caught up with him.

And Scheffler winning this week would see him send a real message to the likes of Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau ahead of the second major of the year.