Scottie Scheffler makes first triple bogey in 9 months, shoots another round over par

Scottie Scheffler didn’t look like Scottie Scheffler on Thursday during the opening round of the Charles Schwab Challenge. The World No. 1 shot another round over par, making it the second time in his last three rounds that he did so after previously recorded 41 straight rounds of par or better that dated back to August of 2023.

He also made a triple bogey, the first time he’s done that since the first round of the Tour Championship at East Lake back in August. Scheffler shot two-over 72 at Colonial Country Club and is tied for 79th place, seven shots behind leader Charley Hoffman.

The eventful month continued for Scheffler, who welcomed son Bennett into the world May 8, arrived at the PGA Championship last week as a favorite and opened with a 67 to jump into contention. Then he was arrested early Friday morning when attempting to enter Valhalla. He made it back to the golf course and shoot 66 but came down in Round 3 with a 73. Scheffler closed with 65 to jump up and into a tie for eighth place.

Earlier Thursday, videos of Scheffler’s arrest were released by Louisville police while saying that all four of his charges are still pending. It was also announced that the arresting officer, Bryan Gillis, violated two policies for failing to turn on his body camera and will received marks on his record.

Scheffler did not speak with the media Thursday after his round.

It was a promising start, however. He jumped out early with two birdies in the first four holes. Bogeys at the seventh and ninth holes started to move him in the opposite direction. After three straight pars, Scheffler made triple-bogey 6 on the par-3 13th hole after dumping it in the water off the tee. After taking a penalty and dropping the ball, the next shot still came up short of the green and ended in the rough. He failed to get up and down for triple, the first since Round 1 of the Tour Championship last year.

Even more bizarre is that, like on the 13th hole, Scheffler’s iron play was a problem all day. He’s ranked No. 1 in strokes gained/approach to the green all year and, although he does everything well, it’s widely considered his greatest strength. On Thursday, he ranked 118th in the category out of 132 players.

Other notable scores from the first round: Brian Harman 66, Tony Finau 66, Collin Morikawa 68, Jordan Spieth 71 and Max Homa 78. Homa only topped one player on the day and made six bogeys and a double bogey.