This Scottie Scheffler bunker shot from his historic win left me awed

You’d be forgiven for thinking Scottie Scheffler didn’t miss a shot en route to his record-tying 31-under win at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. But despite what his eight-shot win looked like on paper, Scheffler wasn’t perfect.

One of his looser swings came on TPC Craig Ranch‘s par-5 9th hole Sunday when he flared his tee shot into a fairway bunker, leaving him 236 yards from the green off a sandy lie with the ball slightly above his feet. Further complicating the shot were trees all down the right side and a trench fronting the green. Scheffler’s club of choice to the back pin: 3-iron.  

“Wow, does this look in the good in the air,” CBS analyst Colt Knost said on the telecast.

And it was. Really good.

Scheffler’s ball touched down in the center of the green and rolled out to 20 feet, leaving him a makeable eagle try.

How Scheffler pulled off the bunker shot

When the ball is above a right-handed player’s feet, it’s easy to tug left. This is because of the “flatter” swing plane created by the lie. It’s also common to hit behind the ball from hanging lies, especially in the sand. 

What I appreciate about how Scheffler handled this challenge was in his set-up and swing. 

1. His posture is tall with alignment wide open (left) of the target. This counters the position of the ball above his feet and helps steepen the backswing, ensuring solid contact.

2. His backswing is long, fluid and unrestricted. Fairway bunker shots with long irons and hybrids require speed to get the ball up quickly. Taking a shorter backswing may help with contact but not with launch.

3. The path of the club is low and left of the target, not high. This is due to the steep backswing and downswing path. The exit of the shaft when seen from downline is actually below his left shoulder; this helps keep pressure moving to the front side and his body turning to the finish.

Scheffler’s tee shot at 9 may not have been perfect, but his second shot from the sand was — and so was his next shot. Scheffler drained his eagle putt to get to six under for his round, reducing the odds of anyone catching him from slim to none.