Scottie Scheffler couldn’t make a single putt longer than eight feet at Royal Troon on Saturday, but the world number one still trails leader Billy Horschel by two points after 54 holes in the British Open.
His lurking status is due in large part to his incredible play from tee to green, which was on full display at the grueling par-3 17th hole, a 238-yard monster played head-on into the prevailing winds that left dozens of players in a near-impossible situation of being helpless on the tee.
But Scheffler is different.
He blew the whistle 3-wood within inches of the cupcoming close to Kim Si-woo, who had scored an ace there earlier in the day.
Scheffler tapped in for birdie, his second and final par-breaker of the third round, giving him an even-par 71 for the round.
“I don’t think I’ll be hitting a 3-wood on a par 3 very often,” Scheffler said.
“You’re not going to hit your driver and 3-wood well on the par 4s and you’re not going to get there in two strokes.”
That’s what happened to Scheffler on Saturday at Royal Troon’s other tough par-4, the 502-yard par-4 15th, played in the wind for a score well above par. Other players hit the hole with drivers off the deck and still fell short.
At the British Open, the weather once again made top players look foolish.
“Overall, I think those last nine holes were probably the hardest nine holes I’ve ever played,” Scheffler said.
“You never know what’s going to happen with the weather forecast. They were predicting rain, but we were expecting a southwest wind. It was similar to the winds we’ve had the last few days, and it was more direct on the back nine than it was coming from the left side. It was definitely very challenging.”
Scheffler, despite the challenges, ranked third among the field in strokes gained on approaches to the green, hitting more than three shots from the fairway. But he lost that shot right back with his putter, losing 3.20 strokes on the green and ranking 78th out of the 80 players who made the cut. He couldn’t make putts on Saturday and missed birdie chance after birdie chance, two that immediately come to mind: on No. 8 and No. 9.
But Scheffler missed a 3-foot putt for par on the 15th hole, dropping him back to 1 under par to win.
“Other than getting a little distracted on the 15th hole and missing a short putt, I played very solid on the back nine,” Scheffler said.
“A raindrop falling off the front of my cap hit me mid-stroke.”
Two holes later, Scheffler bounced back with one of the best shots of the tournament on the 17th hole. Scheffler has been like this all season and leads the PGA TOUR in comeback percentage after rare errors.
But what makes Scheffler so great is his mental strength. He doesn’t get distracted from his work unless raindrops get in the way. In fact, he remains calm and collected even when his putt is not coming together.
“It can be frustrating at times, but I felt like today was a day where I did a good job of not getting too frustrated, staying in a good mental place and staying in the tournament,” Scheffler said.
“But my goal going into the back nine was just to do everything I could to stay in the tournament and get as many shots as I could. I didn’t have a lot of shots to get on the back nine, so I’m glad I was out there.”
Scheffler played the final nine holes in 1-over par, which is surprising given the circumstances, and is certainly staying in good form as he sits in second place with 18 holes to play, and with six players tied for second at 3-under par, anything can happen on Sunday.
Either way, everyone should be watching Scheffler, especially the way he drives from tee to green. Even on a windy, rainy, freezing cold day, he hit 13 of 14 into the fairway and 14 of 18 onto the green. No matter what the conditions, he hits the ball right in the middle of the club face, which explains why he’s won six times already this season.
But if he can make a few more putts in the final round, a seventh victory will surely come in the form of a Claret Jug.
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation Playing Through. Follow For more golf articles, follow us on Twitter Jack Mirko In the same way.
