Charley Hoffman (-5) is the solo leader of the Charles Schwab Challenge after the first day, which has been played at a revamped and tough Colonial Country Club. The greens, newly rebuilt and firm, and the wind, have been more than enough to complicate things for everyone. Hoffman, by the way, deserves all the credit, as he has played in the afternoon shift, when the wind has blown the most, and has been able to snatch the lead from a large group of five players, who had gone out in the morning shift and signed cards of 66 strokes, four less on the day (Tony Finau, Brian Harman, Davis Riley, Martin Laird and S. H. Kim).
And in such circumstances and conditions Scottie Scheffler (+2) has probably shown the most human version of himself that is remembered in a long time (months, for sure, and even years). It should be noted: in reality, the world’s Number One was acting as such, with all the stripes, during the first third of the round, where he was pulling off a surgical partial of two less and was already pointing to the highest part of the table, in line with what he has been doing lately, except for that third round of the PGA, last week, which we may have to put in brackets because of the extracurricular events that occurred and are well known.
Then came an unheard-of disconnection, considering this player. The Texan, from hole 7, began to fail from the tee and, when he didn’t, he missed the second shot. He didn’t get out of one problem and he was already in another. He also didn’t find his characteristic composure around the greens, nor did the putt get him out of trouble (this last thing, the putt, is not so newsworthy), so the bogeys were falling. Until he reached hole 13, par 3, where everything came together: he missed the tee shot and went into the water; he missed the shot from the drop zone and didn’t catch the green; he was almost three meters short with a little chip from the rough and, naturally, he missed the putt and signed the triple bogey… Surprise and astonishment.
Agreed, Scheffler is also from this world, but he is still a great champion. When he had things worse after signing a partial of five up in seven holes, from 7 to 13, when it really seemed that he was falling plummeting and spiraling, he recovered the best sensations and concentration. From that moment on he was going to catch all the greens in regulation, always putting for birdie, converting one and even leaving behind some more than good option, like the one on hole 16, from just two meters. Today, for now, he is seven strokes behind the leader in a tournament that is very tight, but we will see how far he is tomorrow, because what common sense dictates is that tomorrow Friday he will recover his superpowers… Gentlemen, we are talking about Scottie Scheffler.
Jorge Campillo (+3), also in the afternoon shift, like Scheffler, has had a hard time through the first nine of the Colonial, with many problems from the tee in this stretch and also to hit with force in the long putts (he has made five bogeys and three of them have come after making three putts). However, he has reacted with courage through the second half of the Texan course and will still have the opportunity to save a cut that tomorrow, if the playing conditions do not change too much, could even go to +2.
