Scottie Scheffler played his 28th round of 2024 on Thursday at the Houston Open, and for the 28th consecutive round, he scored under par -- setting a PGA Tour record dating back to 1983. This round was better than most -- a bogey-free 65 that left him T3 and one back of co-leaders Taylor Moore and Wilson Furr.
Despite being off the lead, Scheffler is certainly in the driver's seat for what could be his third consecutive PGA Tour victory.
To say that Scheffler is on a heater would do a disservice to heaters. He's in the middle of a run that is tantamount to when you put a cheat code into "NBA Jam Tournament Edition" giving your player the ability to use unlimited turbo and be "on fire" for the entirety of the game. Sometimes, it feels like Scheffler is never going to lose again.
Scottie Scheffler takes the lead @TCHouOpen 💪
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 28, 2024
He's looking for his third win in his last three starts. pic.twitter.com/7XrdT0d6Ul
Here are his scores so far in 2024.
| Score | Times |
|---|---|
64 | 3 |
65 | 2 |
66 | 7 |
67 | 3 |
68 | 4 |
69 | 3 |
70 | 5 |
| 71 | 1 |
| 72+ | 0 |
The scary part is that he's feeling better than he was the week of the Players Championship when he had to fight through a neck injury to win that event for the second year in a row.
"Neck's feeling better, body feels good," he said. "The off week was good for me to get some rest, get some rehab. I took a couple more days off than I typically would last week, so it was some good recovery time.
The strange part about Thursday's first round is that Scheffler didn't even do the thing he does better than anyone -- hit the ball with his driver and irons -- as well as he has been. Instead, he putted the lights out, finishing seventh in that category on the day. Scheffler made birdie putts of 11, 18 and 24 feet.
If that's what we're getting from him now, then guys can start playing for second.
It is difficult to contextualize what Scheffler is doing. Wins at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and Players Championship are one thing (as well as impressive), but statistically, Scheffler has been off the charts.
Rick Gehman compared Scheffler's excellence against his peers to quarterback play in the NFL. He determined that Scheffler is averaging the equivalent of 900 yards passing per game right now.
You may have heard of the last three golfers to win three tournaments in a row on the PGA Tour: Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods. It is a club of hitters only, and now Scheffler is nearly the odds-on favorite to join them 25% of the way through his tournament. His odds are nearly close to 1-1 now.
Despite this, Scheffler said he's not thinking about a third straight win.
"I don't ever really put expectations on myself," said Scheffler. "I try to be committed to my shots, I try to stay patient out there. At the beginning of the week I'm not looking toward Sunday, I'm just focused on today.
"I start every tournament the same way, I try and stay patient, I try not to look too far ahead, I try to do my best," he added. "Simple as that, really just one shot at a time. I like to control things I can control and that's being committed to the shot and trying to execute. Like I said, on Thursday I'm definitely not thinking about Sunday."
Data Golf says he will win about one out of every three times this plays out. Again, it's worth mentioning that Scheffler does not lead the tournament after 18 holes.
Scheffler might not win this golf tournament come Sunday. But ... he probably will. And that's when the real hype begins. Because winning three in a row on the PGA Tour, even at the Palmer and the Players, is one thing. But making it four and touching it off with a second green jacket at the Masters? Well, that's another world altogether.
