OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. – All that’s left is a few holes, a few putts, a hug from caddy Ted Scott, a kiss for wife Meredith, a wave to the crowd, a trophy presentation, a news conference, a few laughs, a talk with Olympia Fields Country Club members, a long handshake line, and that was it. Scottie Scheffler will have his seventh PGA Tour victory in the books.
It’s all just a matter of actually doing those things.
But then a 20-yard bump-and-run to the par-5 15th green stopped 13 feet short, leaving Scheffler to miss a birdie putt on a hole he should have birdied. The 27-year-old woman, who at once seemed impossibly gifted and impossibly vulnerable, slowed her pace. He said later about the chip shot: “It landed maybe a foot from where I wanted it to be, and then the second bounce really got me. I thought it was my only one to jump onto the green, but it hit the poa annua and stopped quite a bit.
Walking off the 15th green, Scheffler looked confused, so he could barely see what was cooking in front of him. Over 17, Viktor Hovland, whose contention at this 2023 BMW Championship was believed to be long over, rolled in a 9-footer for birdie – his sixth on the back nine to that point.
But Scheffler will regroup, for sure. The pin on the downhill par-3 16th sits behind the front right bunker. Undaunted, Scheffler approached it, staring at it with raised hands.
Seeing it drop 6 feet from the stick, Scheffler stepped on his divot, showing the kind of Texas warmth we rarely see from him. This is understandable. Scheffler is the best golf ball-striker in the world. Is he the best player? That can be debated. But ball-striking? No one else exists in his orbit, which perhaps makes it more frustrating for him to participate in 12 tournaments, dating back to The Players Championship in March, since winning.
This day may end that frustration.
Then Scheffler missed a 6-foot birdie. “It started on the line,” he said. “I just don’t have the speed.”
Scheffler doddered the 17th, watching his feet. It was hard to tell if he was mad or angry or both. A man’s disposition is not to confess his feelings. He just goes on being Scottie Scheffler.
After a drive on the 17th fairway, Scheffler dialed a number, still in position to win. He looked to his left as another cheer came from Hovland. With a birdie on 18, the 25-year-old finished with a course-record 61 to reach 17-under for the tournament. He shot a 28 on the back nine and somehow now leads by one stroke.
Scheffler needed a birdie-birdie finish. Instead he three-putts from 26 feet on the 17th and saves everyone the drama. After playing his first 67 holes of the tournament at 16-under-par, he played the final five at 1-over.
Thus, once again, Scheffler did not win a tournament where he was the best player by almost all available measures. Standing before reporters on Sunday afternoon, Scheffler processed a feeling that was all too familiar. He shrugged and simply said, “I’m just a little disappointed. I think that’s the way to describe it. “
Part of it is the nature of the game. Playing well is often not good enough in golf. A shot fell here, a shot fell there, an opponent put on a historic round. It’s hard to win. Everyone’s favorite stat is Jack Nicklaus’ 19th runner-up finish in the majors.
But Scheffler, among today’s players, has become a case all his own. He has been the best ball-striker on the planet since the start of 2022, when he won four times in six starts, including a runaway victory at the Masters, a week when he was so dominant that he missed four putt on the 18th. enough to sink him. Perhaps, however, more should have been done with that finish. Scheffler missed three of four putts from under 5 feet.
Since then, the well-documented green issues have landed Scheffler in some strange debtor’s prison. In his 34 outings since that win at Augusta, Scheffler has posted 17 top 10s, including two wins and six runner-up finishes.
That would be an incredible game for anyone, but Scheffler is not just anyone. He leads the PGA Tour this season in strokes gained off the tee, strokes gained approaching the green, strokes gained tee-to-green, strokes gained total, percentage of greens hit on regulation, average score, and season earnings.
But placement?
Scheffler lost -.239 strokes on the green. If he’s an average putter, he’ll be able to three easily? four? are you five? more wins in the last 16 months?
Instead, he is frustrated and seems like a man with more questions than answers. After the win, Hovland said he was confident in his readings and felt like his speed was dialed in. He said as he said, “Maybe I just didn’t try to fight it. I just trust my instincts and my intuition and work out this time.
And what did Scheffler say?
“I felt like I was doubting myself at 16,” he said, “and then 17 was weird because I have a lot of those right-to-lefters now, and it’s like I just hit them on the break.”
At this point, it’s hard to shake the feeling that Scheffler wasted (so to speak) what could have been an iconic summer in 2023. His ball-winning numbers are too good — Tiger -good, or as close to it as we’ve seen. The average fan probably doesn’t realize how good Scheffler is because he doesn’t hoist a trophy every week. After next week’s Tour Championship, Scheffler’s season will be wrapped up and it’s hard not to ask, what if?
And, perhaps more directly, what’s next? A different approach? Goal-point? A long putter? Putt left handed?
Or maybe he stays the course, see where it goes. The assumption is that Scheffler will get better and win again soon because if you hit the ball closer to the pin than everyone else every week, wins come as a natural consequence.
And if they don’t? Well, the best player doesn’t always win.
He’s used to it.
(Top photo: Michael Reaves/Getty Images)