​Had golf fans been told that Scottie Scheffler would keep bouncing between missed cuts and top-10 finishes at the Scottish Open this year, they would have assumed the world number one had merely enjoyed another strong week in a season that felt oddly uneven. It had been nearly four years since Scheffler had missed a cut on the PGA Tour, and although he had flirted with taking the weekend off at the Genesis Invitational and the Memorial Tournament earlier in the year, it came as a seismic shock when he finished his second round at The Renaissance Club at level par. It was hardly ideal preparation as he readied to defend The Open Championship next week at Royal Birkdale, yet this isn’t the first time Scheffler has arrived at the final major of the year with a missed cut from North Berwick in his recent history.
Scheffler’s ascent began at speed between his first two Open Championship appearances, followed by a remarkably successful Ryder Cup debut at Whistling Straits shortly after his first Open at Royal St George’s, where he finished tied for eighth. He had also claimed the Masters title in 2022. But as The Open Championship at St Andrews drew near, Scheffler found himself missing the cut at the Scottish Open, his week’s score hovering five over par. Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images. Regardless, after finishing his second round in Scotland, Scheffler made it clear that he was not overly worried about his general form as he prepared to contend at the Home of Golf.
“Well, today I actually played fine. I got a couple really bad breaks on the front nine. Outside of that, I played fine today. Yesterday was the day where I played just absolutely horrendous,” he said. “Going to next week, I feel like I’m still in a pretty good spot. A couple things to work on but I feel like I’m in a good spot.”
There was a noticeable edge in his tone when the conversation shifted to being ranked world number one over the summer. Asked in his pre-tournament press conference about maintaining the top spot, Scheffler offered a restrained response.
“I guess I am number one in the rankings. I’m not sure if I’m necessarily perceived that way by you all or whoever it is, but that’s not stuff that I really ever think about. For me I’m just trying to go out and play good golf,” he said.
The season’s dynamic energy was unmistakable as Scheffler moved through the media room and into the day’s next golf action. “It’s definitely different. I was talking to my wife at the beginning of this week; it’s definitely different when I go out and play practice rounds and there are people around, and I come in here to do this stuff. Six months ago I definitely wasn’t asked to come in the press room unless I was winning. So there’s definitely a bit more activity going on at tournaments. That’s something I’m learning how to navigate. And I’m kind of learning on the go right now. When I sit back this off-season, I’ll kind of assess how much I play and stuff like that, just because it takes more energy now to show up to an event than it did before.”