Weekend Wrap - The Scheffler Era

We specialize in puncturing recency bias here at Unplayable Lies, though today I'll only go so far as to remind folks that at some point he'll lose again.  Probably.

Scottie in Full - Your humble blogger bristles on those few rare occasions when folks use the diminutive of my given name, so imagine my surprise that a grown adult, a world-class athlete at that, is happy going through life being called Scottie.  Yeah, there was Pippen, but he was in the supporting cast...

But enough about me... See what you think of Mike Bamberger's framing:

There’s an odd and interesting page in Michael Murphy’s Golf in the Kingdom where Shivas Irons, the book’s protagonist, makes an unlikely list he calls “men who knew.” (It was a more sexist time.)

Among the names on his roll, he includes Calamus the Gymnosophist, Sherlock Holmes, Picasso — and Ben Hogan, the great Texas golfer who won the Masters twice and started the Tuesday-night Champions Dinner.

Well, the time has come to add another golfer from Texas to this list: Scottie Scheffler, winner of the 86th Masters on Sunday, by a field goal over Rory McIlroy. Scheffler knows.

Scheffler, at 25, knows things about golf that the great Hogan, who won his first major at 34, never figured out. Hogan’s genius was for puzzling through the game’s deep complexities. Scheffler’s genius is to keep it simple.

See ball, hit ball. See hole, putt to its high side. Wear clothing with one logo on it. Nike will pay you enough. Don’t go chasing waterfalls or paydays or turbo-charged souped-up drivers. Scheffler knows: what got him here is more than good enough.

Hey, I get the Picasso, Holmes and Calamus references, but who is this Hogan guy you threw in there... It actually should have been blue-lined by an editor, because we'll need to keep Hogan aside for our Tiger discussion.

But isn't this the existential question of the moment:

*On Feb. 23, Scheffler won his first PGA Tour event, the WM Phoenix Open, in a playoff over

Patrick Cantlay on a pushover golf course;

*On March 6, Scheffler won his second PGA Tour event, the Arnold Palmer Invitational, by a shot, on a windy, demanding course crowded with ponds;

*On March 27, Scheffler won the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play on a baked course and became the No. 1 ranked player in the world;

*On Sunday, April 10, Scheffler won the 86th Masters, in his third appearance in the tournament.

A run like that is way beyond a heater. Four wins in seven weeks? That’s Tiger-like. That’s historic. That’s not sustainable.

Right?

What, Tiger didn't go on heaters?  So is this a heater or is he this good?  That's what we'll be watching for, though it may take twenty years to answer definitively.  But Mike is spot on that the common usage of "heater" \seems a little inadequate for that which we've seen since February 23rd, and I'd add that, the 18th hole hiccup notwithstanding, that the other marker of greatness is separation from the field, which was in evidence here (though not on the Big Cat's scale).

Shall we see what the Tour Confidential panel, Mikey Bams included thought:

1. Scottie Scheffler, at just age 25, won the Masters by three strokes to claim his fourth victory in his last six starts. How was Scheffler able to pick apart Augusta National, and what did you learn about him this week you didn’t already know?

Just a measure of relief that they were able to resist a Tiger question to lede with.... 

Zephyr Melton: Honestly? Nothing. I’ve been the conductor of the Scottie Scheffler hype train since I covered him in college (and then on the Korn Ferry Tour), and this week was a continuation of what I’ve observed for a long time.

James Colgan: I learned the last six weeks weren’t a hot streak. Of course, Scottie will have runs where he plays worse golf than he has over the last two months (in fact, the rest of his career will very likely be a run in which he plays worse golf than the last two months). But I waited all weekend for him to show even a single crack in the foundation, and the closest we ever got was on the 54th tee (and resulted in a miracle bogey). This dude led the Masters for three days and NEVER made a mistake.

Colgan seems an odd lad to this observer, as we've had some pretty bad misfires from him in recent weeks.  First, of course it's a streak, unless you think he's going to win four of six for the next twenty years.  It's not a question of whether he regresses to the mean, it's about what the mean looks like.

Secondly, he made repeated mistakes, because he was playing the game of golf.   he may have made fewer than some others, but his recoveries were exceptional and his reaction when he failed to recover might have even been better.  So, James, fell free to take the rest of this panel off.

Jessica Marksbury: I was super impressed by his composure, which I suppose was first apparent on a big stage at the Ryder Cup. But those opening holes today featured some loose shots — and Scheffler never wavered. With everything he had on the line, he could have easily crumbled, and the fact that he didn’t was awesome to watch.

Yeah, I instinctively think we're overstating that effect, but it's what we all do.  Geoff's wrap-up post is a Quad freebie, but he's been running interesting quotes all week, and has this one that serves as a rebuttal to jess:

Patrick Cantlay on whether Scottie Scheffler has thrived due to a Ryder Cup captain’s pick bounce. “With how well he has played, I wouldn't chalk it up to a Ryder Cup pick. There's been plenty of guys that have gotten Ryder Cup picks and played well and not gone on any kind of tear that he is on. Give credit where it's due, and he has played some phenomenal golf.”

Michael Bamberger: He keeps it simple. How smart.

Dylan Dethier: I learned he wasn’t as confident as he looked. He cried “like a baby” on Sunday morning, he said, feeling unprepared for the moment and all that would follow. He played like a prepared man.

Yeah, they may look preternaturally calm, but there's always more going on inside than we see.  Geoff had this on Scottie's Sunday morning, but it should come with a faith warning label:

“I cried like a baby this morning,” Scheffler said after winning the 2022 Masters. “I was so stressed out. I didn't know what to do.”

And you thought the big lug was light on surprises, emotion or character?

“I was sitting there telling Meredith, I don't think I'm ready for this. I'm not ready, I don't feel like I'm ready for this kind of stuff, and I just felt overwhelmed.”

His high school sweetheart and wife of almost two years asked him, “Who are you to say that you are not ready? Who am I to say that I know what's best for my life?”

They talked about “how God is in control and that the Lord is leading me; and if today is my time, it's my time. And if I shot 82 today, you know, somehow I was going to use it for His glory. Gosh, it was a long morning. It was long.”

Lots of folks are creeped out by believers, so there's that.  But I'm struck by what a perfect answer his wife gave, and how much better it is than the default, "Of course you are."   Because the former survives the inevitable bad shots, whereas the latter survives everything, at least as long as you actually believe.

Alan Bastable: Big board game guy. And big “The Office” guy, too; he spent Saturday night watching Season 4 with his bride. What really jumped out at me, though, was something he said earlier in the week about how he focuses hard on staying in the present. Cliched, sure, but it seems to be one of Scheffler’s keys. He said he was playing this Masters, just as he does every tournament, “like it’s my last.” He added: “For me, it’s best to probably stay in the moment because I don’t know how long I’m going to be able to play golf out here.”

To me, that's the big skill, just staying in that moment and not thinking ahead.

Can I have a couple of decades to answer this one?

2. Scheffler entered the week as the newly minted World No. 1 and, as we already noted, has won four of his last six starts. They all came on different styles of golf courses and one was even a match-play event. What kind of staying power does Scheffler have atop the golf world?

Melton: It all depends on his putter. Scottie has always been an elite ball-striker, but the putter has been a bugaboo at certain points during his career. The biggest difference between this year and his first couple on Tour is his SG: Putting stats. In 2020, he ranked 117th, and 2021 he ranked 107th. This year? 15th. If he keeps putting well, he’ll be a contender for a longgggg time.

True for all of them, given that the modern game is so much about putting.  We should expect it to ebb and flow, but we can't know yet what the mean is.

Colgan: Goodness, if he keeps putting like this, I find it hard to believe we’ll see anyone else in the top spot for a LONG while.

Marksbury: I agree with the sentiments above. Putting is huge, it can run hot and cold. But Scheffler didn’t play flawless golf this week. He made plenty of mistakes, and took them in stride. It’s that resiliency that I think makes him even more of an awe-inspiring No. 1.

Bamberger: Stealing from Jenkins here, who was speaking of Tiger: the only thing that’s going to slow him down is a bad back or a bad marriage. Both from our vantage point look dead solid perfect.

Dethier: I dunno, that swing doesn’t seem like it could actually hold up under pressure. I doubt he’ll win anything big. [Ducks] Just kidding, obviously. This isn’t the time to be a Scheffler doubter. Scheffler Szn will end at some point, but there’s no evidence it’ll be any time soon. He just put together an absolutely historic run of golf. Guys don’t win four times in six starts. It doesn’t happen. So let’s appreciate what he’s already done, knowing he’ll be in our golfing lives for some time to come.

Bastable: See my answer above. Who knows! Not us, and not Scottie. Rory McIlroy hasn’t won a major in eight years. Anyone see that drought coming? Scheffler’s work-life balance seems healthy, though. He has a good head on his shoulders, and now a green jacket on his back.

I do agree with Dylan that his footwork seems likely to cause consistency issues at the very least, but it's actually quite difficult to be down on the guy that's just won four of his last six...

Before we move on, Geoff had an interesting note about that third green.  We had heard that it was re-grassed, but apparently there was a bit more involved:

Modified Third Hole Plays Pivotal Role On Sunday

The front left ledge was reshaped prior to this year’s tournament as part of a green re-grassing. This rid the 360-yard hole of a shelf effect that could prevent some balls from spinning down the

hill. The modification gave the unusual Jones and MacKenzie green a more natural roll-off effect that should be applied to others here where a mysteriously chintzy rim effect has been allowed for far too long. But this improvement to the third also led Jordan Spieth to predict players would be precluded from attacking the traditional Sunday hole location.

“That Sunday pin was so challenging and now it's almost an automatic layup with a wedge,” he said on Tuesday. “So I think that's kind of a bit odd just because it was already so difficult.”

We’ll never know whether those comments or the new green factor influenced the Cup And Tee Marker Placement. We’ve got a better chance of reading the President’s Daily Briefing. But Sunday’s hole was cut closer to the green center than normal. No one could have imagined that those more graceful edges would allow Scheffler to pull off a shot for the ages.

After hooking his drive in the left pine straw—another rarity at No. 3—and leaving his second short, Scheffler faced a decision to lob his ball over the slope or play a bump-and-run up the steep bank.

“It’s firming up,” caddie Ted Scott could be overheard saying thanks to crack CBS sound work. “You can hit a driver, it’s firming up.” A “driver” meaning Scheffler’s patented de-lofted wedge. Think of it as a 21st century Texas Wedge.

The Longhorn flushed it into the top portion of the bank and made improbably holed the shot for a birdie.

That approached the pin at speed, so that may well have won him the Masters, immediately changing the dynamics of the last group.  About the only time I can remember the third hole playing a pivotal role involved Jeff Maggart, so we don't need to dwell on that.

So, who else do you guys want to talk about?  Him?  really, I didn't see that coming...Dylan Dethier was in awe, at least whoever wrote his header was:

Before the breathless speculation about what’s next, before we see if his jet is stopping for

practice rounds in Tulsa, before we start mapping out his path to victory at St. Andrews, let’s take a moment to appreciate what Tiger Woods did this week at Augusta National.

How do you measure this Masters for Woods? The numbers that explain his result are inadequate in telling its story. Solo 47th. A career-highest 13 over par. Back-to-back 78s on the weekend. One number comes closer — his 22nd consecutive made cut at Augusta — but still falls short. What it meant to Woods himself, and to those around him, and to those of us watching along? That’s much tougher to quantify.

Woods limped down the 14th fairway on Sunday alongside playing partner Jon Rahm. He was canted slightly forward, the stride of a man with a fused back whose body is made partly of metal. He was using his driver as something of a hiking pole, helping to propel himself forward, in clear discomfort. He was already three over par for his round, 10 over par for the tournament. But still fighting.

So, you wanna see Tiger on Tulsa Time? 

Livin' on Tulsa time
Livin' on Tulsa time
Well, you know I've been through it
When I set my watch back to it
Livin' on Tulsa Time

Don't we all.... You know I'll run that one into the ground if he shows...

Shall we sample from the TC panel, who shockingly waited until the third question to go there:

3. Tiger Woods made a miraculous return to competitive golf at the Masters, teeing it up just 14 months removed from a car accident that could have taken his life. In his first official event since the 2020 Masters, Woods stayed in contention with rounds of 71 and 74 on Thursday and Friday, but a pair of weekend 78s put him in 47th place. What’s your

Tiger takeaway from the week? And where does this rank among some of Woods’ greatest achievements?

Melton: Tiger exceeded even my wildest expectations. The weekend was a struggle, sure, but he’s far from being in tournament shape, let alone major championship shape. And although he didn’t contend, I still view this as one of his greatest achievements. To come back and compete — and make the cut! — so soon after such a devastating accident is incredible.

Colgan: This might well have been Tiger’s most impressive Masters achievement, all things considered. I was struck by his tenacity this weekend. It seemed he survived the week on nothing other than willpower. I understand his on-course performance left a little to be desired, but considering the stakes here, I don’t think we’re giving Tiger enough credit.

Marksbury: It’s a testament to Tiger’s greatness that as soon as he commits to playing, we expect him to contend, without even an inkling of the current state of his game. What he has overcome is beyond words, and it felt really, really good to have him back. Bring on the Old Course!

Bamberger: It’s an achievement you cannot measure. He put himself on the side of that road on Feb. 23, 2021. He got himself to the 72nd hole of the 2022 Masters.

Dethier: I’ll leave it to Tiger: He said that, other than victories, he’d put this up against anything he’s accomplished in his career. Decent career, too! I wrote more about Woods’ week here but I’ll just add that I found his performance — and the months of rehab that led to it — incredibly inspiring.

Bastable: He won three times this week. Getting to the first tee on Thursday morning was the first W; making the cut was the second; signing scorecards for four rounds was the third. The numbers on those cards felt almost irrelevant. Can’t wait for the Old Course.

I don't think they added much, but that's mostly because there isn't much left to say at this point.  That he played was miraculous, and he showed us enough actual golf that one can dream, if one chooses to.  But he doesn't give us enough to know what he can do going forward, so we'll check back in May...

Speaking of which:

4. What’s up next for Woods? He’s not sure, either. He said he’ll try to play the PGA Championship in Tulsa, Okla., on May 19-22, but sounded more committed to the Open Championship at the Old Course, a venue where he’s won twice, on July 14-17. How much more golf do you think we’ll see from Woods this year, and what should we expect from him?

Melton: I’d expect to see him no more than three or four more times this year. I imagine he’ll try to tee it up in the remaining majors, and then maybe a tune-up start in there as well. We can pencil him in for the Father-Son as well.

Colgan: I think the odds of us seeing him before St. Andrews are very close to zero. His history at Southern Hills is tempting, but it’s too much pressure for too little payout, and the rough at The Country Club (the U.S. Open venue) could be enough for him to WD alone.

Ummmm, James, what the hell are you talking about?  There are two big agenda items on Mr. Woods' plate, which revolve around the numbers 83 and 19.  Southern Hills counts for both, so when you say there's too little reward.... 

Marksbury: Agree, James. Even when healthy, Tiger played a relatively limited schedule. If we could squeeze a few major appearances out of Tiger each year, that would be enough to keep us in a frenzy of anticipation.

Bamberger: Open at St. Andrews if the weather forecast is not for four days of cold rain.

Dethier: Tulsa in May should be nice and warm. I think we’ll see Woods there, hopefully slightly better for having played this week and understanding what he has to work on to play 72 elite-level holes instead of 36ish.

Bastable: The pull of the majors is strong it is, for this aging Jedi. So much will obviously depend on how he recovers over the 2-3 weeks. Presumably this week posed some level of risk, but he gutted it out. If he feels 75 percent or better in the PGA run-up, we could certainly see him there.

If the PGA were still in August, Tulsa would be slam dunk for him I'd think.  The question is the weather  there in May, about which I'm clueless.

Most folks are characterizing his comments as "committing" to the Open at The Old Course, whereas I think these guys get it right.  He can't know what he'll feel like tomorrow, much less in July.  But he's going to want to play majors, he'll just need to be realistic about it.  But they'll all be easier than walking Augusta, so I'm thinking one a month might be doable.

The other point I want to make is that folks seem to be treating The Old Course like it'll be no harder than the Father-Son because it's yanno, flat.  Those would be folks that have never walked in links turf, which is roughly the consistency of concrete.  And the firmest of all is St. Andrews, so he'll feel it.... throw in the weather risks, and it's again a big ask.

Of course, he's won twice there and it's the Home of Golf, so there was never any doubt that he would want to be there.  And, thinking like Tiger would, no one has won three times there....

Lastly, what do we make of this guy?

5. The unexpected Masters runner-up was Rory McIlroy, who shot a bogey-free 64, the best round of the day by three shots and one that tied a final-round record and was one off tying the tournament record. Why aren’t we seeing this more from McIlroy at the Masters?

Melton: That’s the million-dollar question, and if anyone knows the answer, I’d love to hear it.

Colgan: I’m not sure I understand this question. We see this every single year from Rory at the Masters. The too-little-too-late Sunday charge is an unfortunate part of his brand. If it’s any consolation, he seemed in great spirits all week. Maybe that’s helping.

Marksbury: These Sunday performances give credence to the idea that McIlroy’s issues aren’t physical, they’re all in his head. I’m holding out hope that one of these Sunday charges will be enough to give him a back-door victory instead of just a top 10 at some point.

Bamberger: There is golf and there is tournament golf and they are not at all the same thing. He surely shoots mid-60s rounds at home on a regular basis. In a manner of speaking, this Sunday round was not tournament golf.

Dethier: I’d start by suggesting we appreciate that round for what it was, which is one of the most miraculous rounds of golf in recent memory. McIlroy began the day 10 shots off the lead and willed his way into contention. He birdied the first. He drove the green at No. 3. His second nine consisted of two chip-ins, an eagle and several big-time up-and-downs and finished with the most exhilarating bunker shot I’ve seen in person. It’s easy to be like, “Do that more!” but that combination of madness is tough to replicate. To answer the question, though: McIlroy plays his best golf in a very particular state of mind. He doesn’t know how to replicate that state. That’s his continual struggle.

Bastable: By his own admission, he’s intentionally playing conservatively pre-cut, with the aim of not blowing his chances before the weekend. But, yeah, can’t help but think maybe he could take just a few more chances on Thursday and Friday. The talent is so good on Tour that it’s easy to get left in the dust. But as Michael said, stepping on the gas when it really matters is not the same as doing so when you’re well out of pole position.

Hey, did you catch what just happened?  James Colgan redeemed himself, absolutely nailing it...

This was just an exaggerated version of Rory's signature move, the back-door top ten (I'm unclear whether we had that concept before or just invented it to explain Rory).  he does this each and every year at Augusta, and we saw it at Portrush as well.  In this case it took holing out two or three times (I'm unclear on which), which shows the more important bit, how far behind he was before he found his groove.  Shack explains why I'm unclear:

Focusing on the leaders early, CBS played catch-up on most of Rory McIlroy’s early birdies and eagles. As McIlroy holed out at 10—already seen on Featured Group coverage—CBS was just on the verge of showing his iron shot in the fairway. Scoring also updated his birdie. McIlroy’s brilliant 13th hole eagle was two minutes behind the Amen Corner Live airing. Then, perhaps overcompensating for moments already known to those watching streaming feeds or tournament scoring, Nick Faldo said there was “breaking news” with McIlroy at the 18th hole. While the bunker shot was no less spectacular once it aired, the smart viewer already knew what had happened.

Thanks, Nick, for needlessly ruing our enjoyment of that shot....  The man is just a blubbering idiot, but what was the point of that?

Rory was way off the pace as he started piling up the birdies, but no one else was doing anything and it seemed to be awfully late that they showed us his action.  I never fault them for not showing shots live, it did seem like Rory had squandered his chances in going bunker-to-bunker on the finishing hole (when he needed birdie to have any hope), but just cut there and let us see it as it happened, without knowing thanks to Sir Mumbles that it was going in.  Seriously, the one time he says something indelible it's to ruin the viewer's enjoyment of a memorable moment.  That's Nick Faldo in a nutshell.  the golf is only a vehicle for him to make us aware that he's an insider.  

Making it even worse was Nantz's reply, not that he had a lot of options.  Jim said, "I think I know what you mean", as if sitting in a tower above the 18th green he only thought he knew what had happened.  Sheesh, a pox on them all.

I'll need to wrap here, but we'll continue with the post mortems as the week progresses.