The first time Scottie Scheffler played links golf was 2021.
That’s right, the World No. 1 who is having one of the best seasons since Tiger Woods, didn’t play links golf until the Scottish Open in 2021. Now, he’s the favorite to win the 2024 British Open at Royal Troon, which begins Thursday in Scotland.
“Our Walker Cup was in the States. I never made the Palmer Cup to come over here and play,” Scheffler said Tuesday during his pre-tournament press conference. “Didn’t play any junior tournaments or anything like that over here.”
That means Scheffler is still learning, and it’s why he switched his preparation up heading into the final major championship of the year.
Scheffler’s last start came nearly a month ago at the Travelers Championship, which he won, topping Tom Kim in a playoff. Since then, it’s been time at home with Meredith and Bennett, trying to rest up before a busy stretch of golf that includes the British Open, Olympics and FedEx Cup Playoffs.
So instead of teeing it up last week at the Scottish Open, like most of the top players on the PGA Tour did, he spent time playing other courses in Scotland and then got in early at Troon to begin his chase for major No. 3.
“I felt like it was more important for me to get over here to this golf course and prepare, getting used to the conditions of the grass, the bunkers over here,” Scheffler said of his decision to skip the Scottish. “I just feel like you have to be more creative here. I love that part of it. I feel like, when I do come over here, this is really how golf was intended to be played.”
Creativity is something Scheffler knows all about, with his mesmerizing foot motion when he swings to his tantalizing ability to dominate any golf course.
At Troon, bunkers and wind are the main culprits of high scores. Both things are something Scheffler is familiar with handling.
“One of the things I liked that the R&A changed this year from last year was the bunkering. Last year I thought it was a bit silly how they flattened out each bunker,” Scheffler said. “The bunkers are still a penalty enough when the ball isn’t up against the lip. It was a bit of luck whether or not your ball would bury into the face because you have a flat bunker and a wall that’s going to go right into it.”
One of the things Scheffler has spent time working on is his ability to control the trajectory and spin of his shots into the wind. It’s something he has had practice at growing up and living in Texas, but the Scottish turf is another variable added to the ball-striking equation of links golf.
“The ball spins a touch more off this turf,” he said. “It was getting used to how much the ball will actually fly into the wind because when it blows that hard at home, let’s say typically when it does it’s a bit warmer.
“But with the ball being spinnier off the turf, if I tried to hit the shot that I did at home, it would almost spin even more off the turf and then go even shorter. So I had to learn to adjust and shallow out a little bit and hit it low without as much spin.”
He has six victories this season, the first player since Woods to do so on the PGA Tour. With a seventh win, it would further stake his claim on one of the greatest PGA Tour seasons of all-time.
In 1962, Arnold Palmer came to the Open Championship at Troon with six wins on the season. He left with seven and the Claret Jug.
“I love the history of the game, and there’s certain things that I know and certain things that I don’t. That was something that for some reason I just never stumbled across,” Scheffler said. “So I had no idea that that was a thing.”
And with another strong performance this week, it will just be another piece of history Scheffler has etched his name into from his spectacular season.