The post In Scottie Scheffler’s weird season of near misses, 1 trend has emerged appeared first on Golf.

The post In Scottie Scheffler’s weird season of near misses, 1 trend has emerged appeared first on Golf.

Scottie Scheffler stared at the ball as it rose through the Texas sky. The World No. 1 was coming off back-to-back birdies and had a green-light wedge from 105 yards. He was on the hunt, trying to run down Si Woo Kim and hold off Wyndham Clark to defend his title at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. Everyone thought Scheffler, who started the final round two shots back, would eventually overtake Kim and claim the trophy. That’s what killers do. Surely, he’d stick this wedge shot tight for a third straight birdie and be off to the races.

The ball came down at the flag, but this time the golf gods had a different plan. It hit the stick and ricocheted back down the green, leaving Scheffler a 55-foot putt for birdie. He made par and eventually finished in third place, five shots back of Clark, who shot a final-round 11-under 60 to win.

“When you’re winning tournaments, those are the ones that sometimes go in,” Scheffler said, laughing, after his round. “When you’re not winning tournaments, those are the ones that hit the pin and kind of go 50, 60 feet away.”

And so Scottie Scheffler’s strange year of near-misses continued at a course he tore apart last season en route to a runaway win.

Scheffler has now finished in the top three six times this season. He won in his season debut at the American Express, but the floodgates have not opened as expected. Scheffler has still lived atop the leaderboard, but has constantly found himself grasping for a trophy yet unable to grip it.

Back in February at Pebble Beach, Rory McIlroy referred to Scheffler as “relentless.” Nothing seemed to faze the World No. 1. Not a bad round, bad shot, nor a bad break. He just kept coming. That week, Scheffler stumbled out of the gates in Round 1 but went on a Sunday charge that came up just short as he finished in a tie for fourth.

“One of my skills, and I feel I’ve been able to be on a lot of leaderboards recently, is getting in the round when I haven’t had my best stuff,” Scheffler said that week at Pebble Beach. “I think these are some of the weeks when you look back, I’m very proud of sticking with it, not giving up even when I felt like things were going against me this week. Just kept fighting, kept trying to hit shots, kept trying to execute.”

A lull by Scheffler’s standards followed as he finished T12 at the Genesis and T24 at the Arnold Palmer in his next two starts. At the Players Championship, Scheffler was asked about how he manages expectations. Ever since he broke through in 2022, Scottie Scheffler has won a lot and won everywhere. That level of dominance leads to everything being viewed through a binary lens: win or lose. Scheffler bristled at the idea that he had not been playing up to expectations. Expectations can be an anchor, especially if they are outsized. But Scottie Scheffler explained that he views everything through his ability to control his game and his preparation. The results will come if that foundation is sturdy.

“I think that’s kind of a funny question, because if you flipped my season around, 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?” Scheffler said at TPC Sawgrass. “So that’s my point. It’s like your expectations of me are living week by week. My expectations of myself are almost shot-by-shot.

“When it comes to my golf game and my expectations of myself, my expectations all are based around what I want for me mentally on the golf course as being committed to what I can do, and controlling that aspect.”

He struggled that week. The driver was bad, and his normally pristine iron game was only just really good.

Next came the Masters and a flurry of near-misses that have come to define a weird season for the world’s best player.

At Augusta National, Scheffler played near-flawless golf in brutal conditions in Round 1. He stumbled on an easier setup in the second round, leaving him 11 shots back of Rory McIlroy entering the weekend. Then, Scheffler played 36 holes of bogey-free golf and came up one shot short of McIlroy. On the 17th hole on Sunday, Scheffler’s birdie putt was tracking toward the hole but bobbled left at the last second, leading to a par and a second-place finish.

After the round, Scheffler bemoaned Augusta National’s decision to soften the setup on Friday and then praised McIlroy while noting that a few shots over the course of 72 holes were the difference. The margins are razor-thin, and sometimes one swing is the difference between winning and losing.

“I’ve competed against him for a long time, and you don’t win the amount of tournaments that he’s won out here without being pretty resilient,” Scheffler said of McIlroy. “I knew going into today I was going to have to do something special if I wanted to catch him on Cam [Young] and I was close but just a few shots here or there.”

Rory McIlroy beat Scottie Scheffler. But Scheffler also gave him an opening.

News

The strange feeling of watching Scottie Scheffler fade away on PGA Sunday

By: Josh Schrock

A similar story unfolded the following week at the RBC Heritage.

Scheffler entered the weekend seven shots behind Matt Fitzpatrick, but made a weekend charge and tied the Englishman on the final hole to send the tournament to a playoff. Then, Fitzpatrick hit a piercing 4 iron through the wind to 13 feet and made the birdie putt to win and hand Scheffler another runner-up finish.

“On Sunday, it’s a shot here or there that makes a difference,” Scheffler said as Fitzpatrick celebrated. “This was one of those weeks where anytime Fitzy needed something to happen, he made something happen. He definitely earned the win, and he just played great golf.”

A few weeks later, at the Cadillac Championship, Scheffler got off to a ho-hum start while Cameron Young fired an opening-round 64 to best him by seven shots. Scheffler matched him over the next 54 holes but had to settle for a second-place finish as Young walked to a six-shot win at Doral.

“This week he hit a lot of quality shots,” Scheffler said of Young that week. “A lot of quality iron shots, quality tee shots, especially on the holes where it really matters. There are some tee shots out here that are really difficult and he stepped up and hit the shots. On the greens, he was unbelievable this week. First 27 holes, I don’t think he missed anything really. It was nuts. Guy was just holing everything. When you’re hitting really good shots and holing a lot of putts, that’s a recipe to run away with a golf tournament.”

Scottie Scheffler has been playing really good golf. If you look at his stats compared to last season, when he won seven times, Scheffler has been just a tick worse. Last season, Scheffler ranked first in total Strokes Gained (2.743), was second in Strokes Gained: Off The Tee (0.748), first in approach (1.291) and 22nd in putting (0.382). This season, Scheffler has been a little better on the greens (0.506) but has seen his iron play drop from otherworldly to just good (0.521 Strokes Gained: Approach). Scheffler’s total Strokes Gained is down to 2.221 this season. That still leads the PGA Tour, but the dip in iron play is just enough to make him beatable when other world-class players bring their A-game.

“If you looked statistically, I’m probably not much different than I have been the past couple of years, just a few shots here and there,” Scheffler said Sunday after losing to Clark. “A couple things go my way in some tournaments. This season looks a bit differently, but like you said, I’ve been playing some solid golf. Just keep putting myself in position, and things will turn my way.”

Golf is a fickle game that’s won and lost on the finest margins. Tiger Woods once went two years and four months without a win. Jack Nicklaus also went 24 months without a victory. Rory McIlroy went 18 months without hoisting a trophy.

Scheffler’s last win came three months ago.

He’s still the best player in the world. That his near-misses are even a topic of conversation speaks to the expectations of greatness. Such is the price of world-beating talent. Scottie Scheffler’s golf has been a touch below the standard he set last year, leading to him constantly finishing on the other side of golf’s fine line. One bad swing or bad round has opened the door for McIlroy, Fitzpatrick, Young and, on Sunday, Clark to play their best and beat him.

As he left TPC Craig Ranch on Sunday, Scheffler sounded like a broken record discussing another near-miss that very well could’ve had a different ending had he just been a little sharper and not run into another outstanding performance.

“Sometimes you’ve just got to tip your cap and say good playing, and 60 was going to be pretty tough to beat today,” Scheffler said. “Overall, I’m proud of this week for myself, but I wish I could have gotten a few more shots out of it. Overall, Wyndham played great golf.”

Then Scottie Scheffler departed his hometown tournament, hoping that his next start, the Memorial, will have a different ending.

The post In Scottie Scheffler’s weird season of near misses, 1 trend has emerged appeared first on Golf.

The post Fascinating mental battle awaits Scottie Scheffler and Si Woo Kim appeared first on Golf.

The post Fascinating mental battle awaits Scottie Scheffler and Si Woo Kim appeared first on Golf.

On Friday afternoon, after Si Woo Kim carded a (somehow disappointing) 60, the best quote came from his playing partner.

“It’s always fun to watch Si Woo do his thing,” Scottie Scheffler said, an idea he detailed a moment earlier: “I felt like I was hitting all my shots to 15, 20 feet and Si Woo was hitting all his shots to like 8 feet or closer.”

Scheffler and Kim are Dallas pals and were rightfully grouped together during the first two rounds of the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, held in Dallas. The vibes were great but, as tends to happen at golf tournaments, the friendly vibes are about to change. Entering the final round, Scheffler and Kim will play together again … in Sunday’s final pairing. Kim will start with a two-shot lead.

Beating Scottie Scheffler on any day is difficult, as Kim knows very well. He plays practice rounds with Scheffler on occasion. But to beat him over 72 holes is what puzzles every pro golfer these days. The longer the race, the more time for Scheffler to hang around and elevate, the closer to the top of the leaderboard he gets. Saturday was a nice reminder.

Kim was beating him by five when the day began, but after taking his foot off the gas during Saturday’s front nine, he found himself tied with the game’s best player by the time he reached the 13th hole. An in-form Scheffler is simply inevitable.

Kim’s caddie had stepped in to tell his player he was rushing and he needed to calm down. That’ll happen on a birdies-everywhere golf course. But it’ll happen even more when the Scheffler is a name listed on the leaderboard. The way Kim was thinking post-round, at least he’ll now be able to keep track of Scheffler up close.  

Andrew Catalon and the CBS broadcast crew were quick to point out that it could be an oddly comfy pairing for Kim, given his friendship with Scheffler. But we’ve seen comfy pairings head the wrong direction, too, where both players slip down the leaderboard together. That doesn’t feel likely to happen, and chances are if Kim beats Scheffler on Sunday, he’ll win the tournament. But to pay so much attention to your playing partner can only create a bit of a blind spot to the others racing around one of the easiest golf courses they’ll face all season long.

Wyndham Clark has found form this week and is tied with Scheffler, two back. A handful of others sit at 17 under, four back. They’ll all play a bunch of gettable holes before Kim even reaches the 1st tee. Even though he admitted he wanted Scheffler in his pairing, Kim seems to understand that tomorrow will be a shootout either way. 

“This course is definitely not a protecting course,” he said Saturday night. “I still going to have to shoot six to nine under for a win, especially with Scottie. I’m just going to play same attitude as the first two days and try to make birdies where I can and then stay aggressive, and we’ll see.”

The post Fascinating mental battle awaits Scottie Scheffler and Si Woo Kim appeared first on Golf.

The post The strange feeling of watching Scottie Scheffler fade away on PGA Sunday appeared first on Golf.

The post The strange feeling of watching Scottie Scheffler fade away on PGA Sunday appeared first on Golf.

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. — The air at Aronimink Golf Club outside of Philadelphia was hot and heavy on Sunday. As the sun baked the Donald Ross design, fans filed in, hoping to see a chaotic final round of the PGA Championship end with something unforgettable — something to remember the week for long after the buildouts had been removed and the pins put back in friendly spots for members.

The energy built as the afternoon started, the heat rose and the possibilities became clear. Fans were out on the course watching Kurt Kitayama, Matt Fitzpatrick and Justin Thomas go low. The anticipation grew. At the short game area, one man stood in a bunker with a bucket of balls, playing different kinds of shots to corners of the green. Chunk and run here, splash out there, then throw it long and put the brakes on.

Only a few fans watched Scottie Scheffler prepare for his final round at the PGA Championship. Everyone was already waiting for him to begin what they hoped would be a day etched in golf history. A day when Scheffler authored his next defining moment — when their golf course and one of the all-time greats might become synonymous.

Scheffler shared the lead after Round 1. He survived blustery conditions and treacherous pin locations on Friday to enter the weekend two back of the lead but with the tournament in the palm of his hand. An uncooperative putter caused a Saturday stumble, but didn’t take him out of contention.

“The golf course is just challenging,” Scheffler said late Saturday night before a lengthy practice session.

It was an exacting test of patience. One Scheffler had answered better than most. He was in the top five in ball striking, driving and approach play. Tee to green, he had done what Aronimink asked. The greens had been his kryptonite, but he had a chance, and that might be enough.

As the late-arriving fans filed in, they spotted Scheffler finishing his short game prep and crowded the fence. He was hitting 40-yard pitch shots across the area with coach Randy Smith looking on. His third attempt landed two paces from the flag, hopped once and stopped. That was it. Scheffler walked through both practice putting greens toward the first tee, and the crowds followed. Scheffler striped his opening tee shot. The first three holes at Aronimink were gettable on Sunday, and fast starts were expected to be common. As Scheffler stood over his 95-yard approach, tension added weight to the humid Pennsylvania air. To Scheffler’s left, fans gathered on a make-shift platform in the yard of a neighboring house. Scheffler’s strike was clean, but the shot came up well short of the flag and left him a lengthy two-putt for par. As he strolled toward the first green, the platform-dwellers started a loud “Scottie! Scottie!” chant. Patrons on the other side of the fairway joined in, trying to push the world No. 1 to light the fuse.

Scheffler made par at the first and then rolled in a 20-foot birdie putt at the second that sent those on the deck of the building overlooking the second green and eighth tee box into delirium. He was four back with so much golf to play. The crowds grew and moved with him. When he stuffed a wedge to four feet at No. 3, the electricity surged as history seemed ready to beckon.

But then something else happened. Scheffler’s birdie putt hit the lip but didn’t drop. The crowd groaned.

Then came the par-3 fifth, where Scheffler missed the green left and couldn’t up and down to save par. The air started to leave the balloon as it became clear that the story they wanted wasn’t coming. After missing the 9-footer for par on five, Scheffler smirked and shook his head. He muttered a few words to caddie Ted Scott and then walked to the sixth tee by himself.

News

Aaron Rai shocked the world. Here's what he revealed in the process

By: Dylan Dethier

There comes a time in every tournament when reality starts to sink in, when it overtakes hope. Hours after Scheffler’s missed birdie at three and bogey at five, Jon Rahm, who would finish in a tie for second behind eventual winner Aaron Rai, explained the phenomenon of still trying to win even though the outcome is no longer in doubt.

“Never lost hope,” Rahm said hours after Scheffler left the property following a final-round 69 that included a few more short missed putts on the back nine. “Even at the end, listen, once [Rai got to 9 under], you’re still trying to finish as strong as possible.”

On a setup that demanded relentless precision, it felt like a Scottie Scheffler type of week. Aronimink wanted it. That’s the effect of greatness. It conjures something deep inside those witnessing it, like watching a once-in-a-century celestial event.

But Scheffler couldn’t give the Aronimink crowd what it craved, like what Rai delivered hours later with a major-clinching 68-foot birdie on the 17th hole. Instead, the defending champ faded from the PGA Championship picture.

As his tee shot on the par-4 sixth sailed right, Scheffler backpedaled to try to get a view of where it was headed. He watched it land in the fairway bunker. He sighed, dropped his head and lightly smacked his driver head on the turf of the tee box. The crowd dispersed in different directions and Scottie Scheffler started a long walk to nowhere.

The post The strange feeling of watching Scottie Scheffler fade away on PGA Sunday appeared first on Golf.

The post PGA Champions Dinner offered new window into Scottie Scheffler’s greatness appeared first on Golf.

The post PGA Champions Dinner offered new window into Scottie Scheffler’s greatness appeared first on Golf.

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. — Scottie Scheffler doesn’t like to talk about himself or his accomplishments. He talks about his faith and his family and how he always dreamed of competing on the PGA Tour and winning majors. But even after his major triumphs, Scheffler very rarely reveals his secrets.

You can analyze his Chipotle order or his existential dissertation before last year’s Open Championship about the “fleeting” nature of success, but you’re going to be doing most of the work. As Jordan Spieth would tell it, Scottie Scheffler is great because his focus is just on golf, his family and his faith. He’s uninterested in everything else that comes with being the world’s best player. It is more plausible that there is no grand secret that Scheffler is holding back.

Scheffler’s peers have an understanding of his greatness. It would be impossible not to. But knowing someone is great, and understanding how they became that way — what makes them tick — is different.

On Tuesday night at Aronimink Golf Club, some of Scottie Scheffler’s contemporaries got a deeper understanding of how he became golf’s dominant force. It was there that Scheffler, who won the Wanamaker Trophy last year at Quail Hollow, hosted the PGA Champions Dinner. Aronimink’s Executive Chef John Ferguson crafted a menu with chicken parm and three flavors of gelato. There was also steak, which 2016 champion Jimmy Walker called “tremendous.” Xander Schauffele, who won the 2024 PGA at Valhalla, sampled everything. “It was all really, really good. The steak, the parm, the homemade gelato was … I need to get some more,” Schauffele told GOLF. Stewart Cink, who won the Senior PGA this year, called the menu “perfect. “They couldn’t go wrong,” Cink told GOLF.

But the food was secondary to the main event of the evening: two speeches — one by 1996 PGA Championship winner Mark Brooks and one by Scheffler.

Scheffler talked about his deep ties to the PGA of America and his coach, Randy Smith, while Brooks went over Scheffler’s journey from a kid asking questions at Royal Oaks to a dominant junior career. As Scheffler and Brooks spoke, everyone listened and got a better view of the guy on top of the golf world

“It’s nice to be in a room full of highly successful people in our profession,” 2015 champion Jason Day told GOLF. “It’s so great to hear Scottie talk about his career and his accomplishments, and how humble he is for how much he has accomplished in this game in such a short period of time. Then, Mark Brooks came up and talked about Scottie’s accomplishments. Then you really can grasp how much he’s accomplished and how he’s done it. Because Scottie will never do that, Scottie never talks about it.”

As Brooks went over Scheffler’s rise, including a dominant junior career that saw him win 90 of 136 tournaments in the Northern Texas PGA junior circuit, Day and others grasped how Scottie Scheffler became Scottie Scheffler.

“The level of competitiveness and the nature of what he had around him – he talked about paying to go and play in these mini PGA tournaments and how meaningful it was for him,” Day said. “From a really early beginning, he was taught to be very competitive, and that’s why he is the way he is today. You get a window into how he became the guy he is.”

News

Scottie Scheffler opens up on parents. And how mom never asked 1 question

By: Nick Piastowski

Schauffele feels like he knows Scheffler pretty well. The two have been on Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup teams together, are good friends and have been two of the best golfers in the world for most of this decade.

But even Schauffele learned some things about the man he’ll try to beat this week at Aronimink.

“It’s definitely more process-oriented with Scottie,” Schauffele told GOLF. “It’s really for the love of the game. I think that really applies to someone like Scott, and most of the guys out here but not all. You really see that when he talks about his connection to the PGA and playing those junior tournaments and how they helped him out. The competitive side is something I always get from Scott but you see where it comes from and how it got there.”

A year ago at Quail Hollow, Scheffler sat next to the Wanamaker Trophy and fielded questions about his greatness, about how he has brought the golf world to its knees. As Schauffele noted, if you want to understand Scottie Scheffler, you have to start with the process, not the man.

“I love the pursuit of trying to figure something out,” Scheffler said that day in Charlotte. “That’s what I love about this game. I feel like you’re always battling yourself, and you’re always trying to figure things out. And you’re never going to perfect it. I can be kind of a crazy person sometimes when it comes to putting my mind to something. In golf, there’s always something you can figure out, there’s always something you can do better.”

He has done almost everything better than everyone else for the last four years. On Tuesday night, outside of Philadelphia, Schauffele, Day and others whose names are engraved next to Scheffler got a peek at a different process: the one that molded Scottie Scheffler into the man they are all chasing.

The post PGA Champions Dinner offered new window into Scottie Scheffler’s greatness appeared first on Golf.

The post The 10 best PGA Championship groupings, ranked! appeared first on Golf.

The post The 10 best PGA Championship groupings, ranked! appeared first on Golf.

With 156 players in this 2026 PGA Championship field, there’s a lot of golf to stream and watch and follow over the next four days at Aronimink Golf Club.

Tee times begin early Thursday (6:45 a.m. ET!) and the golf runs late (last group off at 2:27 p.m.).

There are lots of ways to watch (streaming begins bright and early) although certain time slots might demand a little more attention than others. So to properly prepare you for the first two rounds of the 2026 PGA Championship — and because it’s a mildly fun exercise to conduct on a sleepy tournament Wednesday — we (subjectively) ranked the 10 best groupings for the first two rounds of the second major of the year.

You can check out the full tee sheet for Thursday and Friday here, but scroll below for 10 marquee groups you don’t want to miss — a list that includes a dynamite trio that landed in our top spot.

Ranking the 10 best PGA Championship groupings for Rounds 1 and 2

No. 10 — Wyndham Clark, Cameron Smith, Brian Harman
7:45 a.m. Thursday/1:10 p.m. Friday

A trio of major champs are featured in the No. 10 spot, although all three are still looking to return to that major-winning form of a couple years ago. Comeback coming? A quality group.

No. 9 — Gary Woodland, Jason Day, Sam Burns
7:34 a.m. Thursday/12:59 p.m. Friday

Two more major champs (sorry, Sam Burns) make up this grouping, one that’s headlined by fan-favorite Gary Woodland, who has had to overcome brain surgery and battles with PTSD yet still won in Texas in March.

No. 8 — Chris Gotterup, Robert MacIntyre, Tommy Fleetwood
1:43 p.m. Thursday/8:18 a.m. Friday

Chris Gotterup can absolutely move the golf ball, while Tommy Fleetwood is one of the game’s best ball-strikers. Plus, Robby MacIntyre is also very good.

No. 7 — Hideki Matsuyama, J.J. Spaun, Max Homa
12:59 p.m. Thursday/7:34 a.m. Friday

Everyone is a Max Homa fan — minus the Internet trolls Max fires back at online — and watching Hideki Matsuyama hit irons is quite fun. J.J. Spaun is the reigning U.S. Open champ and playing some very good golf, having won already this year.

No. 6 — Viktor Hovland, Collin Morikawa, Shane Lowry
1:32 p.m. Thursday/8:07 a.m. Friday

Two major champs and a guy who is near the top of the best players without a major ranking.

No. 5 — Cameron Young, Keegan Bradley, Justin Thomas
1:54 p.m. Thursday/8:29 a.m. Friday

Justin Thomas has won this tournament twice and it seems like anything in the northeast quadrant of the United States is a home game for Keegan Bradley. And then there’s Cam Young, who’s also from the Northeast (New York) and playing the best golf out of anyone in this threesome — and better golf than almost anyone on Earth right now. It’s a big week for Young, who after his Players Championship title in March is looking to take that next step and win his first major.

No. 4 — Xander Schauffele, Brooks Koepka, Tyrrell Hatton
8:29 a.m. Thursday/1:54 p.m. Friday

Xander has won this tournament, Brooks has won it three times and the self-deprecating-but-immensely-talented Tyrrell Hatton is about as entertaining as they come. Can Koepka contend for Wanamaker Trophy No. 4 on Sunday?

No. 3 — Scottie Scheffler, Matt Fitzpatrick, Justin Rose
2:05 p.m. Thursday/8:40 a.m. Friday

The World No. 1 is almost guaranteed to get one of the top spots in this ranking, and he’s also the defending champion this week (and playing well, with three straight runner-up finishes). He’s grouped with two European Ryder Cup veterans, and one of them (Matt Fitzpatrick), is a key player to watch this week, entering the tournament having won three of his last five starts.

No. 2 — Bryson DeChambeau, Ludvig Aberg, Rickie Fowler
8:18 a.m. Thursday/1:43 p.m. Friday

This group got the slight edge over the Scheffer/Fitzpatrick/Rose threesome, mainly because Bryson at major tournaments is must-see TV and since Rickie Fowler is still a draw. But don’t forget about Ludvig Aberg. And if you had, here’s a quick refresher: the sweet-swinging Swede has finished in the top 10 in five of his last six starts.

No. 1 — Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Jon Rahm
8:40 a.m. Thursday/2:05 p.m. Friday

Let’s be honest, this wasn’t even close. This grouping, which finishes up in primetime on Friday, features the reigning Masters champ, one of the most beloved and interesting players in the sport and, last but not least, a talented Spaniard who has been all over the news lately but still should be among the favorites this week. Oh, and Jordan Spieth needs to win to complete the career Grand Slam. What’s not to love?

The post The 10 best PGA Championship groupings, ranked! appeared first on Golf.

The post ‘Highest quality’: Chef leaks Scottie Scheffler’s PGA Champions dinner menu appeared first on Golf.

The post ‘Highest quality’: Chef leaks Scottie Scheffler’s PGA Champions dinner menu appeared first on Golf.

On Tuesday night of tournament week, the PGA Championship features a tradition that is like one other: the PGA Champions dinner.

As with its more famous predecessor, the Masters Champions dinner, the PGA Champions dinner features a guest list of past PGA Championship winners, and the previous year’s champion chooses the menu.

At the 2026 PGA Championship, that man is World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. And thanks to a sneak peek from the chef crafting the meal via a CBS News interview, we know the foundational elements of the meal the champs dined on Tuesday night, and both are Italian-American staples.

Scottie Scheffler’s PGA Champions meal features Italian-American favorites

Though he’s better known as a Texan, Scheffler was born and initially raised in New Jersey. His mother, Diane, is of Italian descent. Given both of those facts, you can assume Italian-American food was a staple of Scheffler’s childhood.

That personal background seems to have influenced his PGA Champions dinner choices at Aronimink, which were anchored by two Italian-American staples: chicken parm and gelato.

The man responsible for cooking up Scheffler’s menu, Aronimink Golf Club Executive Chef John Ferguson, leaked the items in an interview with CBS News this week.

“He wants chicken parm. So we’re going to use locally raised chicken, the highest quality chicken,” Ferguson told CBS News. “And he wanted three flavors of gelato.”

According to CBS News, the three gelato flavors Scheffler requested were “lemon, strawberry and raspberry.”

The food choices differ from what Scheffler chose for his most recent Masters Champions dinner in 2025. That year, the World No. 1 stayed away from Italian-American cuisine, and instead picked items with a Texas theme.

Scheffler’s choices at Augusta included Texas-style chili for a first course, and wood-fired cowboy ribeye or blackened redfish for the main course. Despite the differences, he still chose some comfort food, with cheeseburger sliders making the menu as an appetizer.

Xander Schauffele ‘can’t even remember’ his PGA Champions dinner menu (we do)

We only know a couple of items on Scheffler’s menu this year, but last year we got a much more extensive look at the dinner chosen by 2024 PGA champion Xander Schauffele.

Just don’t ask him to recall the meal course-by-course.

News

Xander Schauffele unveils pricey PGA Champions Dinner menu

By: Kevin Cunningham

On Tuesday in his pre-tournament press conference at Aronimink, Schauffele admitted he “can’t even remember” the menu items he chose for last year’s meal.

“I can’t even remember what I had on mine. I’m sure Scottie will do a nice job. This is only my second one I’m going to attend. Still very new to this whole Champions dinner thing, and it’s cool to kind of get to know some of the guys a little bit better. All the older boys always have all the good stories. So definitely looking forward to that bit,” Schauffele said on Tuesday.

Among the items Schauffele chose (and forgot about) were smoked goat cheese dates, pickled watermelon, clams casino shooters and steak and bleu cheese crostini. For the main course, Schauffele selected Wagyu NY strip steak, served with blackened jumbo shrimp, whipped sweet potatoes and a bourbon bone marrow reduction.

While the PGA Champions dinner doesn’t date as far back as the Masters Champions dinner (1965 for the PGA, 1952 for the Masters), and it doesn’t hold the same prestige, it does offer one pro for the winners choosing the meals.

The PGA of America pays for the entire PGA Champions dinner each year. Conversely, at the Masters Champions dinner, the previous year’s winner picks the meal and foots the bill.

So the PGA can thank Scheffler for not going all out with his meal as McIlroy did at the Masters in April.

The post ‘Highest quality’: Chef leaks Scottie Scheffler’s PGA Champions dinner menu appeared first on Golf.

The post Scottie Scheffler opens up on parents. And how mom never asked 1 question appeared first on Golf.

The post Scottie Scheffler opens up on parents. And how mom never asked 1 question appeared first on Golf.

Scottie Scheffler is talking about scores. 

This is PGA Championship week, after all, but this story is about a junior event he’d played in when he was 12. It was a qualifying event, he explained, and you could either take your result and enter that week’s main tournament, or use it in the future. But Scheffler’s dad, Scott, didn’t make it an either/or proposition. His son could play only in the qualifier. No tournament that week. The family had to be somewhere. 

Deal. Scott dropped off Scottie. Scottie played. Scottie called him when it was over. 

“He goes, ‘I don’t like this. This is not something I want to hear,’” the younger Scheffler said Tuesday at Aronimink Golf Club, the PGA’s host. “I said, ‘Well, dad, I won the qualifier.’ So if I win the qualifier, I get into the tournament, and I get to save the exemption. So I’m like, I got to play in the tournament. 

“He’s like, ‘Scottie, I told you, you can’t play in the tournament. I’m like, ‘But dad, I won.’”

Of course, he’d remember that story. 

His mom probably does too. 

Over the years, we’ve learned some about Scheffler’s parents. Mom Diane is an accomplished lawyer. Dad Scott is a stay-at-home dad. When Scottie was young, the family moved to Texas from New Jersey. You’ll see the Schefflers occasionally at tournaments. At the younger Scheffler’s pre-PGA press conference, after being asked for advice for young golfers and their parents, and he said his parents never pushed him. They’d drop him off with coach Randy Smith, and he was off. 

“I think there were more important things for them than my golf game,” Scheffler said. “I think growing up, especially when you look at youth sports today, I think you see a lot of parents that are overzealous. That’s not from a place where they don’t care. I think they want their kids to have success. I think they want them to do well. I think sometimes pushing them towards something is the best way to do it.

“Maybe it isn’t in some cases, but I think I did my best when my parents would drop me off at the golf course and let me do my thing. One of the first things that Randy taught my dad is when Scottie gets to the golf course, he takes his own bag off the golf cart, he sets up his own area. He doesn’t need you out there, this is his thing. I think they did a good job of guiding me along, helping me when I need help, but not pushing me to be anything other than a good student and a good person. It wasn’t all about golf with them.”

And his mom, Diane, did something that was “interesting,” he said.

She had a rule. 

“She never asked me what I shot,” Scheffler said. “She said, ‘If you want me to know what you shot, you’ll tell me. 

“‘I don’t have to ask you what you shot.’”

News

2026 PGA Championship Thursday tee times: Round 1 groupings

By: Kevin Cunningham

Good advice, and the benefits are clear. Later in the press conference, Scheffler talked about how he’s internally focused and how he enjoys improving, and you can see where that took root. Naturally, he’d share some scores, though, including the one in the story that started this article. Which makes you curious:

Did Scheffler play in that junior tournament?

And how’d he do?

He remembered that, too. 

“So he ends up letting me play in the tournament,” Scheffler said, “and I remember calling him when the tournament ended, because the tournament was a couple of hours away, and he had to leave me there for a period of time. I was like 12 years old. He’s probably not going to be happy me telling this story.

“I called him after the tournament, because the tournament ended, everything’s cleaned up, and he’s not going to be back for another hour or two. So I’m just out practicing after the tournament. I called him, ‘Well, dad’ — I told him what I shot, finished fifth. Now I’m fully exempt. We don’t have to worry about the qualifiers anymore. He’s like, ‘OK, great. I’ll be there in a couple hours.’” 

The post Scottie Scheffler opens up on parents. And how mom never asked 1 question appeared first on Golf.

The post Riding ‘golden period’ into PGA, Matt Fitzpatrick leans on Scottie Scheffler’s viral words appeared first on Golf.

The post Riding ‘golden period’ into PGA, Matt Fitzpatrick leans on Scottie Scheffler’s viral words appeared first on Golf.

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. — Matt Fitzpatrick heard Scottie Scheffler’s viral message during last year’s pre-tournament press conference at the Open Championship and filed it away. Ahead of the championship at Royal Portrush, the World No. 1 got existential while talking about the fleeting feeling of success at the highest level.

“It only lasts a few minutes, that kind of euphoric feeling,” Scheffler said last July. “To win the Byron Nelson Championship at home — I literally worked my entire life to become good at golf to have an opportunity to win that tournament. You win it, you celebrate, get to hug my family, my sister’s there, it’s such an amazing moment. Then it’s like, ‘okay, what are we going to eat for dinner?’ Life goes on.

“Playing professional sports is a really weird thing to do. It really is. Just because we put in so much effort, we work so hard for something that’s so fleeting.”

Scheffler said that while winning gives him a sense of accomplishment, it does not “fulfill the deepest desires of his heart.” Fitzpatrick, who was in the midst of returning to top form, took Scheffler’s words to heart and vowed to approach his next wave of success differently whenever it arrived.

A few months later, the floodgates opened for Matt Fitzpatrick. He won the DP World Tour Championship in November and has won three times on the PGA Tour this season, including the RBC Heritage and the Valspar. He and his wife are also expecting, and he helped his brother, Alex, earn his PGA Tour card with a win at the team event, the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. It has been an unprecedented year for the Fitzpatricks, and Matt has made sure not to let the joy from this time slip away.

“I’m trying to cherish it as much as possible. It’s all happening very quickly,” Fitzpatrick said on Monday ahead of the 2026 PGA Championship at Aronimink. “[Scottie’s words] really stuck with me because I was very intent on saying, well, okay, if I’m lucky enough to win again, that I take it in. I enjoy it. I really think about it and enjoy it with the people that it means something to, as well as myself. … It’s about thinking of those moments, those great times that you’ve had, regardless of results this week, last week, next week, whatever it is, it’s making sure you remind yourself of those good times.”

The good times are here for Matt Fitzpatrick. They’ve never been better. When he won the 2022 U.S. Open, Fitzpatrick thought he was in his “golden period.” But that was then. Now is different. According to Data Golf’s raw Strokes Gained numbers, Fitzpatrick ranks third in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green, sixth in ballstriking and fourth in approach. His tee-to-green and ball-striking numbers are better than in 2022 and the approach play is the same.

News

8 PGA Championship storylines you need to know about

By: James Colgan

This is Matt Fitzpatrick’s “golden period.” It is born out of “curiosity” and “work ethic.” Fitzpatrick is a deep believer in analytics. He wants every ounce of data he can find. He pores over Trackman numbers to compare them to different years of his career so he can best understand his game, what he is and isn’t getting out of it and how to elevate it to another level. He’s always looking for little edges to get better, even when he’s playing the best golf of his career.

“Looking for those small, small percentages, how does that look, I think that’s ultimately where you’re always trying to go,” Fitzpatrick said at Aronimink. He knows that it might look crazy from the outside when players at the top of their game make changes to try and get better. “You always think from the outside, like, why is he doing that? Like, you know, that seems so stupid,” Fitzpatrick said. But those “small gains” are the key to taking the best golf of your life and making it better. At the top levels, the difference between winning and losing is in decimal points.

So, Matt Fitzpatrick looks at every nook and cranny of his game to inch himself forward. But he also understands that golf is not linear. Stretches of good play, like the one he is now, often lead into dips. There are ebbs and flows. Rough and smooth. He’s willing to deal with that as he looks to push the boundaries of his game.

Earlier this season, Fitzpatrick felt this coming. He hit it well to start the season on the West Coast, but couldn’t get his putter going. All the data said he was hitting it the best he ever had. He felt it. Then came a near-miss at the Players. Then, the dam broke and he “cashed in” his consistent play with three wins in four starts. He is now ranked No. 4 in the world and arrives at the PGA Championship in prime form to add a second major.

Fitzpatrick likes to look at the charts on Data Golf that show players’ career arcs. He knows that eventually a rough patch will arrive; that’s golf. But the inevitability of a dip doesn’t mean Matt Fitzpatrick feels extra weight this week to make sure the best golf of his career leads to the most coveted prizes. Matt Fitzpatrick is methodical and addicted to the process — one determined by years of data. He’s just going to stick to what birthed this “golden” era and let the chips fall where they may.

“I wouldn’t say I put any more pressure on myself. I obviously know the situation that I’m in, even before playing well — I know how my game is, like I just do. I don’t think it is a case of putting in any more pressure on,” Fitzpatrick said. “So if anything, it’s trying to let it happen still.”

And make sure not to let the moment slip away too soon if it arrives this weekend at Aronimink.

The post Riding ‘golden period’ into PGA, Matt Fitzpatrick leans on Scottie Scheffler’s viral words appeared first on Golf.

The post 2026 PGA Championship tiers: Contenders and players to watch appeared first on Golf.

The post 2026 PGA Championship tiers: Contenders and players to watch appeared first on Golf.

The tournament boasting the biggest field in major golf has arrived, but that doesn’t necessarily mean every player has a chance to win the Wanamaker Trophy come Sunday night in Pennsylvania.

Technically, yes, everyone has a chance to win the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club this week. But the realist in us says some of the guys down at the 200,000-to-1 range might not be strong bets (respectfully).

Since an effective-yet-bland here’s the PGA Championship field article isn’t quite as fun, we’re creating some highly subjective tiers for the contenders teeing it up at the PGA this week. As for the guys omitted from this list? If one wins we’ll take our medicine and never write this sort of thing again.

On to the tiers…

One of these guys is going to win, right?

Scottie Scheffler
Rory McIlroy

It might be a two-horse race. Scheffler and McIlroy have combined to win four of the last five majors. McIlroy won the Masters last month. Scheffler is defending his title at the PGA Championship. Scheffler has finished as the runner-up in each of his last three starts, a streak that started at the Masters. Rory, with that weight off his shoulders, is on somewhat of a house-money run, as he’s now collecting green jackets like elementary schoolers collect pop tabs. Don’t overthink it — one of these guys is probably going to win.

But what about this guy?

Cameron Young

OK, so maybe it’s a three-horse race. Check out this spring: Young tied for third at Arnie’s event, won the Players, tied for third at the Masters, tied for 25th at the RBC Heritage and won the Cadillac Championship. On Sunday he shot 74 — his worst round of the season — and settled into a tie for 10th at the Truist Championship. We’ll call Sunday an outlier and expect Cam to contend this week.

But what if it’s a ‘Big 4’?

Matthew Fitzpatrick

Back in 2015 and 2016-ish, there was a fun (mostly golf media) debate trying to figure out if the top tier of the PGA Tour was a “Big 3” or “Big 4” with the likes of Jordan Spieth and Jason Day and Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson and so on. This isn’t quite like that, but while Rory and Scottie are kind of in their own tier now, Fitzpatrick (along with Young) has climbed to the next rung of the ladder. Fitzpatrick tied for 52nd at the Truist, but before that he won three of his last four starts. One major title to his name seems like too little a number right now.

2 LIV players you shouldn’t forget about

Bryson DeChambeau
Jon Rahm

Boy, after last week, these guys must be thrilled to not have to be the center of attention. Both are also very good golfers.

2 ex-LIV players you shouldn’t forget about

Brooks Koepka
Patrick Reed

Koepka has won this tournament three times, while Reed has five top 20s at PGAs. We like Brooks’ outlook a little better than Patrick’s, but that’s probably exactly how PReed likes it.

The guy we are waiting for

Ludvig Aberg

He won the Genesis last year and hasn’t picked up a victory since, although check out these last six starts: T8, T4, T21, T5, T5, T3. He seems destined to pile up some victories. But how much longer do we have to wait?

A handful of really good golfers who could win

Xander Schauffele
Tommy Fleetwood
Collin Morikawa
Justin Thomas
J.J. Spaun

You wouldn’t be shocked if one of these guys won a major on Sunday. Four of them — sorry, Tommy! — already have major titles, although the one who doesn’t might be the guy you have the most confidence in right now.

News

8 PGA Championship storylines you need to know about

By: James Colgan

Jordan Spieth

Jordan Spieth

Welcome to his latest attempt at the career Grand Slam. He’s been good but not great this season — one missed cut but zero top 10s — although few things excite the golf world like Spieth contending on a weekend.

Other guys in good form you shouldn’t forget

Patrick Cantlay
Adam Scott
Gary Woodland

Woodland won in March and has been solid since; Scott hasn’t missed a cut all season and has mixed in seven top-25 finishes; and Cantlay has landed in the top 12 in each of his last four starts.

Other guys in semi-good form you shouldn’t forget

Corey Conners
Thomas Detry
Sahith Theegala
Justin Rose
Viktor Hovland
Hideki Matsuyama
Joaquin Niemann
Ben Griffin
Russell Henley
Alex Smalley

Too many names to dive into, but take our word for it.

European Ryder Cuppers who are intriguing

Tyrrell Hatton
Robert MacIntyre
Shane Lowry

Only one of them has won a major (Lowry) but the other guys bring some fun (fiery?) energy to major weeks. They are also good golfers.

Did they catch a heater at the right time?

Kristoffer Reitan
Rickie Fowler
Nicolai Hojgaard
Alex Fitzpatrick

Who are these four? Why it’s your top-four finishers at the Truist Championship Sunday. Alex Fitzpatrick has another shot to prove this run is no fluke (he’s been convincing so far), while Fowler, who should get more credit for this crazy run of longevity, is running out of time to snag that elusive major title.

Some other major champions we didn’t mention yet

Keegan Bradley
Wyndham Clark
Jason Day
Brian Harman

Maybe?

Players who were in good form but are now battling injuries

Jake Knapp

The good? Five top-10 finishes in nine starts this season, and he’s third in Strokes Gained: Putting. The bad? He hasn’t played in almost a month due to a nagging thumb injury. He’ll be a last-minute decision this week a well.

Some other guys with stats we like

Si Woo Kim (5th SG: Tee to Green)
Min Woo Lee (13th SG: Tee to Green)
Chris Gotterup (16th SG: Tee to Green)
Kurt Kitayama (16th SG: Tee to Green, 6th SG: Approach)
Austin Smotherman (11th SG: Approach)
Sepp Straka (13th SG: Approach)
Jacob Bridgeman (1st SG: Putting)
Akshay Bhatia (5th SG: Putting)
Sam Burns (10th SG: Putting)

Gotterup won twice in three starts earlier this year and has recorded just one top 10 since, although he has eight top 25s. His driver has been a weapon all year and he was also great with his irons and putter last weekend. A good sign going into a big week.

Long shots

Sahith Theegala (+17500)
Max Homa (+20000)
Keith Mitchell (+22500)
Haotong Li (+30000)

Because these bets feel better when they hit.

The post 2026 PGA Championship tiers: Contenders and players to watch appeared first on Golf.

The post Why Lee Trevino feels Scottie Scheffler is becoming like Jack Nicklaus  appeared first on Golf.

The post Why Lee Trevino feels Scottie Scheffler is becoming like Jack Nicklaus  appeared first on Golf.

Lee Trevino, one of golf’s greatest players, is talking about his high regard for Jack Nicklaus, perhaps the greatest player, and Scottie Scheffler, the current top-ranked golfer, and he can illustrate that thought, though to help him, he needs another sport besides the one where all three claim their fame.  

Volleyball. 

Appearing on a video released Wednesday on the PGA Championships’ YouTube channel, Trevino was asked about several topics by host Rich Beem, who, like Trevino, is a PGA winner. They remembered Trevino’s start in golf. His victories. How he won them. The entire video is worth a watch, and you can do so here. One of the more interesting points, though, came when Beem asked Trevino what role Nicklaus played in his success.

Notably, Trevino said it was small, at least at the start. He knew Nicklaus’ standing. He knew what he needed to meet that. “You kind of pull your belt a little tighter,” Trevino said, in his Trevino way. That said, though, Trevino said he thought his humble beginnings had numbed him to any pressure — “I didn’t know what the hell pressure was,” he said — and that helped his play.

Then came a moment at a Ryder Cup. 

Trevino and Nicklaus were teammates, and one of the nights, there was a function, but Nicklaus was a no-show. Later, Trevino asked him about that. The event felt important. 

But Nicklaus said his daughter had a volleyball match. 

“And that’s when I realized,” Trevino said, “you know, there’s more to this game.” 

He went further on Nicklaus. 

“I respect his golf, but I respect his fatherhood more,” Trevino said. “He was the best dad I have ever seen in my life.

“I learned a lot from him. I had kids in the beginning. I got divorced, [and] I never knew them because I was always on the golf course. When I married this young lady in ’83 and we had two kids, she looked at me and she says, ‘You’re going to help me raise these.’ And they went everywhere. But she pulled them. She would — no, no, she said, ‘We’re going to go see your dad.’ You know, ‘We’re going with your dad.’ And Friday nights, man, they were there, come home, the whole thing. 

“And I knew exactly what Jack did. That gave me the vision of saying, ‘This is what Jack was doing.’”

And Trevino said he sees Scheffler doing that, too. 

As he’s won 20 PGA Tour events over the past four years, including four majors, Scheffler has often talked about his family. He most memorably did so during a lengthy answer at a press conference at last year’s Open Championship, where he said his family is his priority.

“I’m blessed to be able to come out here and play golf,” Scheffler said, “but if my golf ever started affecting my home life or it ever affected the relationship I have with my wife or my son, that’s going to be the last day that I play out here for a living.

“This is not the be all, end all. This is not the most important thing in my life.”

Trevino has noticed.  

“Scottie said, ‘Listen, it’s just not this game,’” he said.

Here, Trevino ended his answer with a quick joke. After all, this is Trevino, who’s as skilled with his words as he is his golf. 

“But I guess when you’re the GOAT, you say, ‘You can spend more time at home.’”

Editor’s note: To watch the entire PGA Championships video with Trevino, please click here.  

The post Why Lee Trevino feels Scottie Scheffler is becoming like Jack Nicklaus  appeared first on Golf.