PEBBLE BEACH — Scottie Scheffler came up short at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, and yet, he said on Sunday, “these are the weeks I’m most proud of.”
For good reason.
The World No. 1 can’t win them all, but he sure tries like hell even when he looks like he has no chance. In the latest demonstration of his resiliency and resolve, Scheffler completed a three-day climb out of a massive first-round hole with a closing nine-under 63 Sunday at Pebble Beach Golf Links to give the field a bit of a scare.
Beginning the final round eight strokes behind 54-hole leader Akshay Bhatia, Scheffler registered three eagles for the first time in his career, punctuated by a routine two-footer at the par-5 18th hole set up by a 6-iron from 186 yards. That gave him the clubhouse lead at 20-under 268, a position he surmised wouldn’t be good enough. He was right, finishing tied for fourth with Tommy Fleetwood.
“You never know what's going to happen in this type of weather,” said Scheffler, 29, who was denied his 21st PGA Tour win but battled to collect his 18th straight top-10 finish. “I just started trying to approach the day with a good attitude and do what I could do. I didn't have really any crazy expectations or anything on the day, I just wanted to show up and have a good attitude and play some good golf. … It's almost like I'm play a ‘wolf’ game; you're trying to birdie every single hole. If I shot 75 today it wouldn't make much difference. Just get up there and kind of freewheeled it and did some nice things.”
Scheffler opened with an even-par 72 at Pebble Beach, leaving him tied for 62nd place in the 80-man field. It marked the second week in a row he began poorly. At the WM Phoenix Open, Scheffler stood T-89 after an opening two-over 73 then rattled off rounds of 65-67-64 to tie for third.
With a bogey on his fourth hole Friday at Spyglass Hill, Scheffler was one over par through 22 holes in this signature event before turning things around, as is his habit, covering his final 50 holes in 21 under par. That included three bogeys in the final round that started with enormous potential after he played his first seven holes in seven under that featured another eagle at the par-5 sixth.
He hit 10 fairways and 13 greens in regulation and converted 151 feet of putts, gaining more than four strokes on the field on the greens, the only time all week he ranked among the top 30 in putting. He wasn't as sharp as usual with his approach play, either. Somehow, the four-time major winner still was around the top of the leaderboard down the stretch.
“It's amazing in a sense I played three really good rounds these [last two] weeks,” said Scheffler. “You know, one of my skills, and I feel I've been able to be on a lot of leaderboards recently, is getting in the round when I haven't had my best stuff. A frustrating start to both of the last couple weeks. But I think these are some of the weeks when you look back, I'm very proud of sticking with it, not giving up even when I felt like things were going against me this week. Just kept fighting, kept trying to hit shots, kept trying to execute.”
No matter the situation, he never stops trying to win.