PONTE VEDRA BEACH — As Scottie Scheffler arrives at this year’s Players Championship, he boasts a first-of-its-kind accolade: No one has ever been able to call himself a two-time defending champion in the PGA Tour’s flagship event. Yet while it sounds like an impressive accomplishment, the man who did the accomplishing was quick to downplay its significance, at least in the context of trying to win yet again in 2025.
“What does that have to do with what I'm trying to do this week? I mean, not much, right? Like do I start 1-under? Do I start at 2-under? I mean, it's even par. It's a new tournament,” Scheffler said on Tuesday during a pre-tournament press conference at TPC Sawgrass.
Perhaps that’s just a way for Scheffler to manage expectations—both his own and golf fans in general. Following up anything from his monumental 2024 season will be a challenge for the 29-year-old Texan, who got a belated start to his 2025 season thanks to his Christmas Day cooking mishap. In four starts, the 29-year-old hasn’t finished outside the top 25, with three top-11 finishes—results that would have most tour pros giddy with optimism heading into a week at TPC Sawgrass. But when you’re coming off a seven-win tour season, well the grading curve is just different.
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That said, Scheffler wasn’t entirely averse to complimenting himself as he recalled his victory from a year ago, in which Scheffler rallied from five strokes back at the start of Sunday’s final round to shoot a closing 64 and win by one shot over Xander Schauffele, Wyndham Clark and Brian Harman.
“I would say last year this whole tournament was one of the best performances I've had in my career, for sure,” Scheffler said. For starters, he was far from 100 percent as he struggled with stiffness in his neck over the course of the tournament, but found a way to keep going even without his best stuff.
“I think the way I played injured Friday and Saturday, to just keep myself in the tournament took a lot of fight, a lot of heart. Definitely did not play golf the way I normally would, but I was so comfortable with my swing at the time that I was able to chip it around and play weird shots and somehow make pars and make some key birdies when I needed to.”
Justin Thomas laughed at first at how Scheffler was swinging it with his injured neck last year at the Players, but eventually found himself impressed with the World No. 1's grit.
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Indeed, Scheffler made birdies on the last three holes during Saturday’s third round to post a 68 and cut his deficit to a more manageable number. He then got off to a hot start on Sunday, holing out for eagle on the par-4 fourth hole, then making five birdies on the next eight holes to take control of the tournament.
Scheffler’s perseverance impressed his fellow competitors as well. “He was far from a 100 percent, and I audibly laughed out loud as his tee shot on 12 because his reaction was … it made even Scottie's follow-throughs and body language look absurd,” said Justin Thomas, who played with Scheffler during the opening two rounds. “Then I felt pretty bad when I realized he did it because his neck was messed up.
“But just watching him get around and hit way more club because he couldn't fully turn or not attack certain pins or shots because he didn't have everything in the tank. That's what great players and some of the best do is they find a way to get it around and find a way to be in contention. And he won one of the biggest tournaments doing that.”
“I think about late on Saturday birdieing the last three holes to give myself just an outside chance and getting off to a good start the front nine the next day to put myself up near the lead,” Scheffler said. “I fought really hard all week to have a chance and was fortunate at the end of the week to get it done.”
The victory came a week after a win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, helping lay the groundwork for a torrid stretch of play in which he would finish no worse than T-8 in his next six starts. Before the end of the summer, he had four more wins, including the Masters, and just two showings outside the top eight.
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The sustained run has Scheffler approaching another interesting milestone. With two more weeks sitting at World No. 1, Scheffler will have held the top spot for 97 consecutive weeks total, the longest run by any golfer in the history of the OWGR save for Tiger Woods, who had runs of 281 straight weeks and 264. Like winning the Players in consecutive years, Scheffler didn’t like calling out attention to himself for the streak.
“The No. 1 ranking is a great thing. It's a nice accolade to get from some of the results that I've had the last few years in tournaments, but at the end of the day, I'm not resting on it,” Scheffler said. “Like when I go home I don't think about being the best player in the world. My life at home isn't any different. I practice at the same golf courses. I have the same friends. I have the same coach. Things for me at home don't really change based upon good or bad golf, and I kind of like that stability.”
And as for wins and top finishes fueling him, yes Scheffler enjoys playing well, but making it three straight wins at TPC Sawgrass isn't going to make or break him.
"But when it comes to this year I've never been a guy that sets long-term goals. Like in terms of a season, I have what I would think of as dreams and aspirations, but my goal is to be as prepared as possible when I step up on the first tee and then I want to have a good attitude when I go out and play over each shot. And that's how I view success."
