Scottie Scheffler has a strong mind that will be tested as expectations rise: Analysis

ATLANTA – Scottie Scheffler looked old even as a youngster, so it was worth taking a moment to reflect on his words as he completed his final assignment in what was to be his best golf season in nearly two decades.

“I feel like I lived almost my whole life in that one year,” he said after winning the FedEx Cup at East Lake. “It was crazy.”

Let’s take a look at the chronology of photos from Scottie’s Year.

Scheffler sat in a chair behind the 14th tee as his coach massaged his neck, a pain that made him wonder whether he should pull out. He persevered and two days later came back from five down to become the first player to win back-to-back The Players Championships.

He slipped into a green jacket at Augusta National. A few weeks later, he hugged his firstborn, Bennett. He wore an orange jumpsuit to a Louisville, Kentucky, jail after the most bizarre arrest during a major championship. An Olympic gold medal hung around his neck as he raised his hand to wipe away tears during the national anthem. He lifted the FedEx Cup.

It was crazy.

It also spoke to his strongest element, which had allowed him to win eight times, including an Olympic gold medal when he was six shots down after nine holes at Le Golf National in Paris.

There was so much negativity about his putting, some of it justified, especially on courses like Riviera and Pinehurst No. 2, where Scheffler simply couldn’t see straight. There was the constant “Scheffler Shuffle,” his feet sliding back and turning on drives that quite often went long and straight.

Too little attention is paid to his head.

“My goal at the beginning of the week was just to get in the right mindset and use what I consider to be my greatest strength, which is my mind,” Scheffler said.

He was talking about the Tour Championship, a four-day tournament that seemed to last longer because it was his third time as the No. 1 seed, and he had been sleeping with a lead that was at least four strokes through the last three rounds. Big leads are nice, but they’re not easy.

It’s been that way all year, and it helps explain why he’s been able to rise to so many big moments, whether it was overcoming a big deficit or facing a second-degree assault charge (later dismissed), whether it was newfound fame or the birth of his newborn son.

His caddie, Ted Scott, recalls that Tom Kim approached him after the Olympics and asked, “How does Scottie manage to stay so clear-headed with everything that’s going on?”

“It’s a great testament to who he is,” Scott said. “You can have the year he had very quickly and be a certain way. Scottie is ruthless. He’ll take you down. You wouldn’t think he was nice if you were competing with him. But as soon as it’s over, it’s different.”

Scheffler needed all the mental strength he could muster at the beginning of the year, when he was approaching a full year since his last PGA Tour victory and there was constant talk about his putting. There were rumors that he wasn’t really the No. 1 player in golf.

Scheffler doesn’t spend time reading and tries not to listen. But it’s hard to ignore.

“Blocking out noise? It doesn’t exist,” Scheffler said in March before leaving for Bay Hill, at the beginning of his astonishing run. “Your brain can’t shut off. You have to focus on something else. You can’t not think negatively. You have to force your brain to think about something else.”

It goes both ways — ignoring the criticisms and platitudes, especially the latter because he’s already won so much.

His mental strength will have to be stronger than ever. Scheffler has the Presidents Cup in two weeks, a title to defend in the Bahamas at the Hero World Challenge after Thanksgiving, and then it’s off to 2025.

Expectations will be higher than ever, especially with so many comparisons to Tiger Woods.

Woods was unmatched in his prime. He was compared only to the past, to Jack Nicklaus and Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson and Sam Snead, not to anyone who competed with him. So it can be unsettling to hear Scheffler mentioned in the same context.

He is the first player since Woods to win seven times on the PGA Tour in a single season (Woods did it four times).

It took Scheffler just 931 days from his first victory at the 2022 Phoenix Open to finish 13th, less time than it took Woods to go from first to 13th. Woods, of course, won in his fifth start as a pro and spent 18 months rebuilding his swing.

Scheffler’s lead in the world rankings is something that hasn’t happened since Woods’ heyday.

Scheffler led the PGA Tour with just over $29.2 million this year, with an additional $33 million in bonuses. But it was Woods and the frenzy he created that propelled the prize pool into first place.

Woods won the Grand Slam at age 24 and is the only player to have won all four majors at the same time. He won the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach and the British Open at St. Andrews by a combined 23 strokes. He never missed a cut in more than seven years. All of these numbers don’t do justice to the impact Woods has had on golf, and continues to have in his semi-retirement.

Dominance may look different, but it all depends on how someone compares to who they’re playing. Golf hasn’t had a three-year streak like that since Woods.

For Scheffler, the next chapter will likely be an encore.

___

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf