Scottie Scheffler had a bad day. Here’s how bizarre it was

Scottie Scheffler started his WM Phoenix Open almost exactly how you would have expected. Drive in the fairway, wedge to 3 feet, birdie. Not a golf-loving soul on earth was surprised.

But it’s what followed Thursday — in fact, what immediately followed — that was so stunning. Scheffler’s next swing was tugged into the water hazard left of the 11th hole. He took a drop, played up to the hole and made a comfy bogey. Alright, moving on.

But that was one of three separate instances during the first round where Scheffler followed a birdie with a bogey. The man whose best trait might be bogey avoidance was doing it at the exact moment when you’d expect him to rush up the leaderboard. He certainly wasn’t trying to, but doesn’t it feel … puzzling? That’s where we’ve gotten to with the World No. 1. His golf has become so consistently above average that, well, it’s straight up bizarre when he dips significantly below average. 

Scheffler carded a two-over 73 Thursday, which leader Chris Gotterup beat by 10 from within the same group. According to stats guru Justin Ray, it’s the first time Scheffler has been beaten by 10 or more strokes in a round by a playing partner since 2021.

So, what did it look like? Well, Scheffler botched a chip on the 18th hole, chunking it onto the green only to watch it roll back to his feet. 

But that’s not all. He flubbed another chip on the 8th, leaving it short of a ridge only to watch it roll back off the green. He’d tap in for bogey, essentially ruining a streak of 33 straight rounds of par or better on the Tour. That’s what we’re trying to point you, the smart golf viewer, toward today. 

Scottie Scheffler rarely ever has bad days. This was as bad as any he’s had in the last 12 months on Tour. There was the third-round 72 he shot at the Travelers Championship last June, where he still rallied for a T6 finish. There was the third-round 76 he shot last year at Torrey Pines in the Genesis Invitational. According to scoring average, both those days will end up registering similar to this one.

And besides that? Not another day on Tour in 12 months where Scheffler sagged down the leaderboard like this. Scheffler tugged a couple tee shots left, leading to dropped shots. If you’re a pessimist, you might remember all those left misses during the final round of the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow. But if you are an optimist, and you really should be, you’d remember that just when things got tight at last year’s PGA was when Scheffler turned it on, played perfect golf into the house and won by five. 

So, do you want to believe in Scheffler the rest of this week? That bizarre 76 during last year’s Genesis Invitational still resulted in a T3 finish. He hasn’t finished outside the top 20 since August 2024 and hasn’t missed a cut since 2022. But oddsmakers currently list him as a 50-50 chance to sit inside the top 20 by the end of the weekend. That’s what his golf has done to us and predictive markets. Does one bad day mean anything for Friday? Probably not with this guy.