There’s one major theme running through most of the questions being put to Scottie Scheffler this season: Why are you playing so poorly?
The world number one finished T24 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and outside of the top 10 at the Genesis Invitational. That raised some eyebrows, especially after his even-par start at The Players Championship.
His driving has been poor, not even threatening to hit the fairway on occasion. Scheffler has not been his laser-accurate self, leading to a decline in his results from event to event.
But when you look at the numbers, it’s clear that Scheffler’s start to this season has been far better than how he started his historic 2025 season, which saw him compared to Tiger Woods after two major championship wins.
How Scottie Scheffler’s start to 2026 has been better than his start to 2025
Scheffler is a traditionally slow starter, but this year has been a pretty successful start by the world number one’s standards. Scheffler won the American Express, his first event on the PGA Tour this season, and then followed up with two top-five finishes.
Compare that to the start of last year, where Scheffler had just one top five, two top 10s, and no wins in the lead-up to The Players, and you can call the start to this season a success.
This year, Scheffler’s last two events have seen him finish outside of the top 10, but his numbers are still better than his start to 2025. He’s improved in every single area of his game.
He’s historically struggled with his putting, but where Scheffler didn’t gain over a stroke on the greens in any event before The Players, and lost over a stroke at Bay Hill in 2025, this year he’s been far better.
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Scheffler gained a stroke with his putting at both the American Express and The Genesis Invitational, and hasn’t lost strokes on the greens in any event.
The only area where you could argue Scheffler is worse this year than last is his iron play. It’s been his historical strength, but Scheffler lost strokes to the field on approach at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
But he didn’t exactly light the world on fire with his ball striking to start last season, despite an impressive display at Pebble Beach which saw him gain nearly two strokes to the field. In fact, his irons didn’t truly get hot until his first win of the season at the CJ CUP Byron Nelson.
So while we have come to expect far better from Scheffler, especially after an unbelievable season last year, he’s actually trending in a better direction to start 2026. It’s only a matter of time until that reflects on the leaderboards, and when it does, the rest of the PGA Tour should watch out.
Scottie Scheffler frustrated with reporters at The Players Championship
Scheffler has faced a barrage of questions about his performances in the build-up to The Players, and the American appears to have lost all patience for them.
Before the tournament, he was told by a reporter that the season hadn’t started as well as he’d have liked, and Scheffler replied: “Yeah, I think that’s kind of a funny question, because if you flipped my season around and it was like, okay, I finished — what did I finish last week?
“Like 24th or something. 24th and 12th, and like 3rd and 4th, and a win. Would your question be the same if I was coming from 3rd, 4th, win?”
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The reporter then said no, and Scheffler is right to be frustrated with this line of questioning. What other player would have their performances questioned after a win and three top fives to start the season?
Slow starts to tournaments have prevented him from contending so far this year, but when you look at his body of work, Scheffler has played well. Once he finds his rhythm, these conversations will seem rather silly in hindsight.
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