Scottie Scheffler’s recent struggles continued on day one of The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass on Thursday.
Scheffler drove the ball terribly poorly during his first round of The Players, while his iron play was once again nowhere near what we’ve come to expect from him.
While this is certainly no crisis for the 29-year-old, and there is no need to panic just yet, he will undoubtedly be highly concerned by his recent performances, at least behind the scenes.
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Scheffler’s driver was the talk of the town heading into The Players, and he opted to switch back to his older Qi10 model before the start of the tournament.
He admitted earlier this week on Tuesday that he does not fully trust the Qi4D driver just yet when working the ball both ways.
However, the world number one’s struggles off the tee were exacerbated with his old driver on Thursday at TPC Sawgrass.
Scheffler’s frustrations have boiled over out on the golf course recently and he is clearly not comfortable with his swing right now.
The interesting thing is that, in the long run, this period may well serve the current world number one really well.
There is a real argument to be made that things have come way too easy for Scheffler over the past four years.
And all of a sudden, he is being made to work really hard for every single score that he posts on the PGA Tour.
Scottie Scheffler’s recent swing issues spell bad news for his rivals
Since February 2022, Scheffler has won 20 PGA Tour events, including an impressive four major championships.
He hasn’t finished outside the top 25 in any tournament since August 2024 and with a solid round at Sawgrass on Friday, he will make his 70th consecutive cut.
Even when Scheffler is struggling out on the course he still manages to compete. Great examples of this were his performances at the WM Phoenix Open, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the Genesis Invitational and just last week at Bay Hill.
However, we saw him put in arguably his worst performance in more than 18 months during his first round at The Players on Thursday.
There were moments out on the golf course when the world number one golfer genuinely looked like an 18-handicapper.
It’s little wonder why Scheffler’s usually stoic persona has shifted over the past few weeks, and we’ve seen much more emotion from the world number one.
The Texan was all over the place off the tee and he could not prevent himself from missing to the right with his driver.
They weren’t just small misses either. He actually got lucky with some of the spots he hit his driver on day one at Sawgrass, and the only consolation was that he managed to compile a round of even-par 72 in the end.
He ranked 68th in strokes gained off the tee on day one in Ponte Vedra Beach, and it was clear to see that his club was stuck so far behind him on his backswing.
His iron play was very poor as well. Scheffler has built a career for himself with his superb distance control and his uncanny ability to perfectly judge the spin on his approach shots.
However, he has been an absolute shadow of his former self over the past six weeks. Interestingly, though, his recent struggles may well be just what he needed.
The wake-up call that Scottie Scheffler needed
One of the common denominators in all world class athletes is their ability to thrive in adversity and come out the other side even stronger.
Whatever Scheffler may say to reporters right now, he will unquestionably be extremely frustrated behind the scenes.
Brandel Chamblee noted on Thursday night after day one of the Players that he doesn’t even recognize Scheffler’s swing right now.
“I just want you to notice this,“ Chamblee said, with Scheffler’s swing paused at the top of his backswing.
“That’s the top of his back swing (short of parallel to the ground), okay? If you want to go to another click or two, he’s already coming down.
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“Not only is that face open, it is miles across the line, if it would go on to parallel, but it doesn’t go to parallel.
“So, uh, I don’t even recognise this golf swing from Scottie Scheffler.“
Scheffler will be under no illusions now as to the size of the task that lies ahead of him, if he is to end up being one of the greatest golfers of all time.
I’m not suggesting that he was complacent before, because he always worked incredibly hard on his game.
However, even the best golfers in history have gone through problems with their swings throughout their careers.
Notably Tiger Woods, who famously rebuilt his swing FOUR times under the tutelage of Butch Harmon, Hank Haney, Sean Foley, and Chris Como.
Perhaps Scheffler has reached the stage of his career where he will have to make some changes to his swing, whether that be with his setup or swing plane.
While we may see Scheffler struggle more in the short-term, the 29-year-old will surely be a better player in the long-run as a result of his struggles now.
In order to remain at the top, golfers can’t afford to ever stop learning.
The prospect of a new and improved Scottie Scheffler will strike fear into his rivals, that’s for sure.
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