There was always going to be a good chance that Scottie Scheffler registered his worst ever finish at the Hero World Challenge this year, with the world number one never previously finishing outside of the top two at Albany.
Scottie Scheffler was looking to become the first player to win the Hero World Challenge three times in a row this year.
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Scheffler was not at his best throughout the week. However, he went into the back nine on Sunday still with a realistic chance of a seventh victory in 2025.
Unfortunately, the 29-year-old’s rustiness seemed to catch up with him shortly after the turn.
Tiger Woods questions Scottie Scheffler’s decision at the Hero World Challenge
Scheffler made a bogey on the par five 11th after putting himself in a couple of awful spots.
The problems began after he put himself in a perfect position off the tee. With nearly 300 yards to the green, Scheffler decided to get his driver out.
Unfortunately, there was a small lump of mud on the front of the ball. And Scheffler was left furious as the ball hooked 30 yards left of the green. What made matters worse was that it came to rest under a bush. He would do well to eventually end up with a six.
He would also drop a shot on the following hole. And when speaking on the Golf Channel, Tiger Woods suggested that he would have taken a different approach on 11 had he seen that the ball had mud on it.
“He was going alright at the beginning of the round, but that one shot on 11 kind of derailed him. Now he basically has to birdie out to have a chance,” he said.
“No, I wouldn’t have [hit the same shot due to the mud on the ball]. I would have just chipped an iron as low as I possibly could down the fairway.
“But hey, he’s the number one player in the world. He can do whatever he wants.”
A worrying trend is emerging with Scottie Scheffler’s approach play
It is fair to say that Scheffler does everything brilliantly. But if there was a standout part of his game, it would surely be his iron play. Woods himself lauded Scheffler’s approach play ahead of this week’s event.
But there are one or two slightly concerning signs heading into the 2026 season.
Scheffler has lost strokes to the field with his approach play in five of the last 12 rounds now – including twice this week in the Bahamas, according to Data Golf.
He could certainly put his performance this week down to the amount of time there has been since the Procore Championship – the last PGA Tour event he played in.
But obviously, there is plenty to work on before the new season arrives – even for Scheffler.
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