Scottie Scheffler reminded the golf world at the Houston Open on Friday that he is, in fact, destined to die.
He made a three-putt on the 18th hole from 7 feet, marking an even-par 70. After the first putt missed, the Texan inexplicably missed the tap-in and hit a double-bogey six.
With this, Scheffler ended his streak of consecutive rounds under par with 28, a PGA Tour record.
He also ended his streak of no double bogey or worse in 218 holes. Incredibly, this was Scheffler’s second double of the season.
The 27-year-old withdrew from last week’s Valspar Championship to rejuvenate after winning back-to-back PGA Tour events. Scheffler came to Houston without a beard, but he was rested.
After the round, he hinted at the cause of the three-putt.
“I think that’s why you sometimes see things like that happen on the 18th. It’s mental fatigue and that’s it, just an error in judgment,” he said. “Obviously I’m a little frustrated with the way I ended, but overall I’m still in the middle of the tournament.”
“I felt like I hit a good putt on the first one, and I probably just barely made it past the break, so it was obviously a little frustrating that I hit a good putt and it didn’t go in. “I hit it a little faster on the second one. “I don’t think I saw it.” There are spike marks there. ”
Scheffler started the day with a bogey, but turned around on the front nine and made three birdies.
But things were tumultuous for the world’s No. 1 golfer on the back nine. Scheffler dropped a shot on the 11th, but made a birdie on the 12th. I lost another shot on the 14th par-4.
“I think the conditions were very tough. The wind was blowing really hard and it was very windy, which was tough,” said the 2022 Masters champion. “If you calculate the average wind speed, it probably wouldn’t have been that extreme. But when the wind blows from 10 degrees to 30 degrees all day long, it makes everything you do outside pretty difficult. Become.”
Scheffler was 31st in strokes gained off the tee, 47th in approaches to the green and 55th in putting. He only hit 61.5% of his fairways, but his season average was 77%. Interestingly, Scheffler leads in strokes gained around the greens with 3.557 shots gained.
It’s been a while since the eight-time PGA Tour winner showed such weakness.
Nevertheless, this one blunder is not a deal breaker for Schaeffler.
“I feel like my game is in a good place,” Scheffler said. “The conditions were difficult today with strong winds blowing from various directions. When the wind is steady, it can blow up to 25 degrees. If you go in, it can be quite difficult, especially on the greens.”
The former Texas Longhorn is still within reach of the Houston Open title despite struggling with his putting at age 18. He is now four strokes behind leader and defending champion Tony Finau, who tied the course record with an 8-under 62.
Scheffler will have to get that last putt out of his head if he has any sights on a three-peat on the PGA Tour.
Savannah Lee Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through.For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough On all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirls and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.
