Scottie Scheffler had a stable begin to his 2024 PGA Tour season at The Sentry. He completed tied for fifth in Kapalua.
Scheffler didn’t play final week at the Sony Open in Hawaii. As an alternative, he took the week off to arrange for his fifth straight begin at The American Categorical.
Forward of the match on Wednesday, he detailed the significance of this week and the PGA West swing general.
“Kapalua is a superb, enjoyable occasion, however you don’t get a superb really feel for the place your recreation’s at,” Scheffler stated. “You’re enjoying on the aspect of a volcano, and the wind’s blowing laborious, and it’s a distinct kind of golf course. Come right here to the desert. There’s not many situations; you get a superb gauge of the place my recreation’s at going into the remainder of the yr.”
Scheffler has a method for every of the three programs this week. He needs to hit lots of fairways and greens to present himself a glance. The most important adjustment can be to the pace of the greens and the type of sand traps the PGA West has to supply.
His quote is attention-grabbing as a result of, like Kapalua, folks are likely to go low on the American Categorical. Loads of birdies can be made this week, very like the final two weeks have proven.
“I really feel like on the better programs on Tour, you possibly can’t get behind as a result of it’s a lot more durable to catch up… So you bought to hit the bottom operating and begin making birdies early,” he stated.
Since his rookie season, The American Categorical had been the place he began his season till The Sentry was moved to the start of the 2024 season as a Signature Occasion.
The previous Texas Longhorn additionally enjoys the Professional-Am facet.
On the American Categorical, the minimize doesn’t occur till after 54 holes to present gamers an opportunity to play all three programs concerned this week. Every man will tackle La Quinta, Stadium and the Nicklaus course.
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Picture by Steph Chambers/Getty Pictures
Two years in the past, he credited this occasion for jump-starting his yr. Scheffler was exterior the cutline by three photographs with three holes to go on the Stadium Course.
“I chipped in for eagle on 16 and made a 30-footer for birdie on 18 to make the minimize on the quantity,” Scheffler stated. “Then I went out on Sunday and had a very good spherical. I completed twentieth or twenty fifth, one thing like that.”
He would take that momentum into Torrey Pines after which Phoenix, the place he received his first occasion in 2022.
“It’s a superb gauge. It’s a superb observe week. It’s a enjoyable occasion to come back play and compete,” Scheffler stated.
Scheffler will play alongside Patrick Cantlay for the primary three days and they’ll deal with the La Quinta observe first.
They tee off at 12:14 p.m. ET on the primary tee. Day 2 will see them on the Nicklaus Course, going off the tenth tee at 11:41 a.m. ET. For the third spherical, they may tee off on the primary tee at 1:31 p.m. on the Pete Dye Stadium course.
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf workers author for SB Nation’s Taking part in By means of. For extra golf protection, be sure you observe us @_PlayingThrough on all main social platforms. It’s also possible to observe her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.