Story by
Players Championship: Scottie Scheffler said first two titles irrelevant in seeking a third
- Story by
- Players Championship: Scottie Scheffler said first two titles irrelevant in seeking a third
Justin Thomas said Scottie Scheffler was so impressive in the second round of the 2024 Players Championship that he almost forgot he had his own round to play.
It was a pedestrian (for Scheffler) 69, with five birdies and two bogeys. But Scheffler was clearly in pain from a neck issue and unable to take full swings and follow-throughs.
Advertisement
He steered himself around the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass , hitting shots that departed from his normal ball flight, or weren't the textbook shots to play on various holes of Pete Dye's torture chamber, trying to get through the round when it looked like he might have to withdraw at any moment.
"Watching him get around and hit way more club because he couldn't fully turn or not attack certain pins or shots because he didn't have everything in the tank, that's what great players do," Thomas said Tuesday at the Players Championship Media Center. "I think I was more infatuated watching him go around the course with a messed-up neck than I was playing my own game."
Scottie Scheffler hits a practice shot from a bunker at the 11th hole of the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on March 11. He is the two-time defending Players champion this week.
BY THE NUMBERS: Players Championship: Scottie Scheffler's two victories at Stadium Course
Advertisement
Scheffler signed for his score, got the injury treated, and returned for the third round, six shots behind Wyndham Clark. Scheffler birdied his last three holes on Saturday for a 68, then matched the final-round scoring record for a winner with a closing 64 and became the first in history to win back-to-back Players Championships.
He goes for three in a row beginning Thursday when he tees off No. 1 at 1:29 p.m. with Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele .
And if Scheffler starts rubbing his neck, watch out.
Scottie Scheffler won seven events in 2024
Scheffler also had some neck issues at The Masters three weeks later. He won that, too, prompting Thomas to tell him, "clearly you need to tweak your neck more."
Advertisement
Joking aside, Thomas and most of the other PGA Tour players remain in awe of the season Scheffler posted, with seven victories, highlighted by The Masters, The Players, the FedEx Cup, Olympic Gold and three Signature events.
Scottie Scheffler breaks down in tears during the playing of the U.S. National Anthem after he won the Olympic Gold Medal in men's golf at the 2024 Paris Games.
More than 90 percent of them voted Scheffler his third consecutive Player of the Year Award.
Most would have taken that one season and called it a career.
A year later, Thomas still shakes his head.
"The great players find a way to get it around and find a way to be in contention," he said. "And he won one of the biggest tournaments doing that."
Thomas knows exactly what that takes, because he won The Players in 2021.
Advertisement
"He was far from 100 percent," he said of Scheffler's one-shot victory last year over Clark, Xander Schauffele and Brian Harman.
Scheffler is on a three-year roll
Sometimes it seems if Scheffler wonders what the fuss is about. But he's won all 13 of his career PGA Tour titles in the last three years and in three weeks, regardless of what happens in The Players Championship this week, he will be the world's No. 1 player for 97 weeks in a row, passing Greg Norman's 96 and staying on top for the longest stretch for anyone not named Tiger Woods.
"I don't think about being No. 1," Scheffler said Tuesday during his pre-tournament news conference, echoing a sentiment he's repeated often since he moved there on May 21, 2023. "I didn't go to the range today feeling like the best player in the world. I showed up feeling like myself and I want to try and prepare to play in the golf tournament. Being No. 1 doesn't give you any starting strokes."
Advertisement
If Scheffler wins his third Players in a row, he will be the first to three-peat since Steve Stricker won the John Deere Classic in 2010, 2011 and 2012. The last time a player won three or more major championships in a row was Peter Thomson in the 1954, 1955 and 1956 British Open.
Scheffler also would tie Jack Nicklaus for the most Players Championships, but none of the Bear's titles were at the Stadium Course.
Scheffler's secret: Don't get complacent
Winning is what Scottie Scheffler does, in nearly 20 percent of his starts since 2022.
"That's cool" seems to be his mantra. But as the final putt is still rattling in the hole, Scheffler is always asking himself the same question: What's next?
Advertisement
"That will be a nice accolade if I make it there," he said of winning a third Players in a row. "But what does it mean going into the Houston Open, or the next tournament? It's not very much."
Maybe that's the ticket to Scheffler's sustained success over the past three years.
Never be satisfied.
Other players wish they knew the formula, because they'd copy it, just like they borrow drills or switch putters because a fellow player has had success.
"I think there's a lot happening inside with Scottie that's hard to see," said Adam Scott , who won The Players in 2004. "But now he's been in this position and playing this well for a long time. It must be happening. There's something really driving him inside, because he doesn't give much away on the outside."
Advertisement
But Scott then said that it can be that simple.
"I think he takes it all in his stride, is incredibly humble given his success the last couple of years, and probably that helps him with however he's pushing himself inside," he said. "I think he's got an incredible balance to his game and his life and handling everything that he's done."
Scheffler doesn't overwhelm opponents
Schauffele said it's almost frustrating to lose to Scheffler because it's not a Tiger-like whipping.
"It's not like he's hitting it 50 yards past anyone," he said. "He's just hitting the extra fairway more than someone. He's hitting it closer than everyone, and he's chipping it closer than everyone. He's got really good structure and preparation. It seems like clockwork to me now."
Advertisement
A lot has happened to Scheffler since he won his second Players, and not just victories.
He became a father.
He was also arrested the morning of the first round of the PGA Championship in Louisville in a massive misunderstanding in which all charges were dropped (Scheffler shot 67 after spending hours in a jail cell, then tied for eighth with a final-round 65).
Scottie Scheffler lifts his son Bennett high in the air after winning the FedEx Cup at East Lake in Atlanta on Sept.1, 2014.
Then he sliced his hand open on Christmas Day when he broke a wine glass and missed the first four weeks of the season.
Scheffler also isn't roaring into Ponte Vedra like a freight train. He's had four solid finishes in 2025, all inside the top 25, with two top-10s. In the first of his seven title defenses last week in the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Scheffler tied for 11th and he's 13th on the FedEx Cup points list.
Advertisement
He said he's got to play better than that this week to win.
"You can't fake it around this place," he said. "I think there's genius in the way the golf course is designed. There is some volatility in terms of hazards. It calls for different shots on different holes. You have to work the ball both ways. You have to play shots. You can play a little robot golf but at the end of the day you've got to show up, play shots, do things differently."
Scottie Scheffler chips on the 18th hole during the first round of The Players Championship PGA golf tournament Thursday, March 14, 2024 at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
Scheffler said it's the only way to play the Stadium Course, with a game showing no discernible flaws.
"If you're playing good, the golf course will open up for you and if you're struggling off the tee or struggling with your irons, there's not going to feel like there's much opportunity out there."
Advertisement
Still, two Players in a row was unprecedented. Three in a row would be a feat for the ages.
Scheffler pointed out that there are no carry-overs.
"What does last year's tournament have to do with this year," he said. "You tell me. It's even par. It's a new tournament."
And the same old Scottie. That's what scares the other 143 players in the field.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Players Championship: Can Scottie Scheffler win 3 in a row?
