Scottie Scheffler (-2) has started the Charles Schwab Challenge of the PGA Tour with a round of 68 strokes. He is among the top 25 and is two shots off second place. The lead, held by John Pak (-7), is five shots away. It has been a human, even somewhat erratic version of the imperial World Number One. In other words, a terrible piece of news for anyone dreaming of a victory this week at the Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth.
Scheffler is perfectly positioned in the tournament, and it is almost inconceivable that he could repeat such a poor round from the tee in the coming days. That is the bad news for everyone. He has hit only five fairways, a matter that seriously penalizes with the Bermuda rough waiting at every escape. Without being in position, he also hasn’t managed to be precise with the irons, and despite everything, he is within striking distance of the lead.
Scheffler started the tournament like a shot. It almost seemed like a parody. You come from winning the Byron Nelson by a pile of strokes and the PGA Championship and start with an eagle on the 1st hole, sinking a putt from outside and a birdie on the 2nd. It really seemed like a joke. The boldest even started calculating by how many strokes he was going to win this week.
The truth is that the start was an illusion. Scheffler hasn’t played good golf today, at least he has been far from his usual standards. From the tee, he has had many problems, and although with the irons he has been much more brilliant, it was practically impossible to leave himself good birdie chances. In fact, beyond that overwhelming start, Scottie has made just one more birdie by sinking another five-meter putt. He actually only missed a very good birdie chance of just a meter on the 9th hole.
Scheffler has shown his less brilliant version today and is still up there. We insist: a terrible piece of news for everyone. His game this Thursday was more for playing over par and even fighting for the cut, but he manages to make a score. It is the main difference between the very great and the greatest. Let’s remember that he also started the PGA at half throttle and gradually climbed to capture the lead at the end of the third round. It would be unusual if something similar doesn’t happen in the coming days.
The standout leader is John Pak (-7). He signed for 63 strokes, taking advantage of the best morning conditions and an inspired day with the irons and the putt. For instance, on the 10th, he holed it from the fairway. Pak admitted after his round that he is a die-hard Knicks fan and was devastated after the incredible comeback by the Indiana Pacers in the first game of the Eastern Conference Finals of the NBA. “I live and die with the Knicks, and yesterday’s loss was the hardest I’ve ever experienced. I think I went out to play today still with the fire in my body from what we went through in the game,” he confessed. His round was a scandal. He made five birdies, an eagle, and no bogeys and has a three-shot lead over Patrick Rodgers, Ryo Hisatsune, Matti Schmid, Matt Wallace, Beau Hossler, Bud Cauley, JT Poston, JJ Spaun, and Ben Griffin. Many players in form and with confidence at the top of the leaderboard.
On the other side of the coin, we have the starts of Davis Riley (+3), the defending champion, as well as Si Woo Kim (+3).
