SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Scottie Scheffler stubbed a chip shot on the par-4 18th and showed a rare bit of anger, repeatedly tapping the shaft of his wedge against his legs as the ball rolled back to his feet.
When he did it again on No. 8, the world’s No. 1 player threw a hand up in disbelief before muttering to himself as he walked off with another bogey.
Scheffler got off to a shaky start in his bid to win a third straight PGA Tour start, shooting a 2-over 73 in the first round of the Phoenix Open on Thursday.
The frustrating round left Scheffler 10 shots off Chris Gotterup’s lead and put him in danger of missing a cut for the first time in more than three years.
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Scheffler closed out his 2025 season with a win in Napa, California, and opened this season by winning The American Express in Palm Desert, California, for his 20th PGA Tour victory. He had 33 straight rounds under par, with his last round of even-par or worse coming in Round 3 of the Travelers in June (2 over).
Scheffler arrived at the Phoenix Open as the favorite to win for the third time at TPC Scottdale’s Stadium course, with his consecutive wins from 2022-23.
His bid didn’t go as planned, even in ideal scoring conditions.
Scheffler got off to a great start, hitting it inside 3 feet for a birdie on the par-4 10th. He immediately bogeyed the next hole when he couldn’t get up and down, then sandwiched two birdies around a bogey at the long par-4 14th.
Scheffler added another birdie on 17 before things started to unravel.
The double chip on No. 18 led to a bogey, a three-putt on No. 1 added another and a double bogey came on No. 2 when he chopped it around the 449-yard hole.
Scheffler pushed his drive into the right fairway bunker on the par-4, could only advance the ball 54 yards into the left rough and gouged his third shot short of the green. He was unable to get up and down, leading to a double bogey that pushed him to 2 over.
A birdie on No. 3 and the flubbed-chip bogey at No. 8 closed out a 3-over 38 on his second nine, putting Scheffler in need of a low round Friday to avoid missing his first cut since the 2022 FedEx St. Jude Championship.
Scheffler headed to the range right after his round, hoping to find something that would help him continue the PGA Tour’s longest active streak of cuts made at 65.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
