AUSTIN, Texas — Scottie Scheffler is returning to Austin Country Club where a year ago he punctuated his quick rise to the top of golf and for the first time vaulted to the No. 1 ranking in the world.
He’s the defending champion at this week’s World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play and will open Wednesday with a match against Davis Riley, beginning the first of three days of pool play before the Saturday knockout stage. The former Texas Longhorn great is glad to be back in his comfort zone with his Tex-Mex haunts and his old college buddies.
“I love Austin, I love this tournament, the city, and like I said, it’s our favorite tournament of the year,” Scheffler said on a soggy Tuesday morning before his practice round.
Simple guy. Simple tastes. Simply amazing career already with six PGA Tour victories and a major over the course of just 13 months.
Match Play: Best merch | Final event in Austin
By his own admission, he’s, uh, satisfied with his game. Yeah, not a bad start.
“Form is good,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of good finishes this year, which is nice. This calendar year, I’ve played some really solid golf.”
Sure, solid.
Winning the Players Championship by five strokes over Tyrrell Hatton probably qualifies as solid. So does defending his title at the WM Phoenix Open, where he captured his first PGA Tour event back in February 2022. And that little invitational tournament he won at Augusta, too. That was fun, too, to use Scheffler’s timeworn mantra.
His peers see it as more phenomenal than fun.
“Yeah, I mean, he’s a pretty decent player,” Rickie Fowler deadpanned. “It’s been a lot of fun to watch. Scottie is obviously a very good player, but he’s an even better person. He’s easy to root for. He’s fun to be around.”
There’s that word again.
Truly, perhaps the most impressive thing about Scheffler, however, is that he’s not overly impressed with himself.
Scheffler prefers his bubble over the big time
As he said after winning the Players Championship, “I never really thought that much of myself. I always just tried to stay in my own little bubble. I just keep trying to get a little bit better. I never really looked too far ahead.”
He’s pretty much the same low-key, humble guy at 26 that he was as a freshman when he showed up at Texas as a three-time high school state champion from Highland Park. Just one with a higher tax bracket now, thanks to his most recent $4.5 million payday at…
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