Scottie Scheffler has been one of the most consistent players all year, and currently sits fourth in the PGA Tour’s SG: Off The Tee statistics.
While the American has been compiling a season for the ages with six wins so far, helped by his exceptional form from the tee box, a moment towards the end of his final round at The Open reminded us that he is human after all.
The World No.1 had been in contention for the title going into the final round, but his challenge faded when, for the second day in a row, his putting largely let him down as another of the favorites heading into Sunday, Xander Schauffele, took the title.
By the time Scheffler reached the 72nd hole at Royal Troon, he knew it would be another year until he had a chance to claim the Claret Jug for the first time, but he surely didn’t reckon on a tee shot on the par 4 18th that would have made many recreational golfers wince.
Scheffler topped his effort, with the results being the ball finding the deep rough just 150 yards or so from where he was standing.
🗣️ "He's world number one folks"Scottie Scheffler has a mishap on the tee 😬 pic.twitter.com/IqycsRXhT8July 21, 2024
It didn’t get much better for Scheffler from there. On his third shot, he came close to hitting playing partner Dan Brown as his uncharacteristic end to the tournament continued.
I didn’t have Scottie nearly taking out his playing partner on the 18th on my bingo card pic.twitter.com/FDFRRob2GyJuly 21, 2024
Eventually, he finished with a double bogey six, although he can still look back on another relatively successful week having finished T7, six shots behind Schauffele.
It’s not the first time Scheffler has had a shockingly poor tee shot in a high-profile event. During the 2022 Presidents Cup, he shanked his tee shot on the 10th hole at Quail Hollow during the Saturday morning foursomes. Earlier this year, he also hit a shank out of a bunker at the RBC Heritage, which he eventually won.
Given the rarity of Scheffler's mishaps, coupled with his generally incredible form throughout the year, it’s probably safe to assume he won’t be too worried about his latest slip-ups.
Meanwhile, his confidence is likely to remain high as thoughts turn to his next start - representing the US at the Olympics in Paris, with the tournament getting underway on 1 August.
