The weather was really bad and Scottie Scheffler remains very good

SAN DIEGO — The rain suit had become Scottie Scheffler's second skin, a waterlogged membrane he could finally shed only after the last putt dropped. His expression to the handful of remaining spectators needed no translation, a look that was equal parts relief and satisfaction. The storm was never a downpour, not even steady, just persistent Pacific drizzle that somehow managed to soak you to your bones. The wind was also an antagonist, dropping the temperature to decidedly un-Southern California levels that left the hardy souls that came out wondering if Torrey Pines had somehow teleported them to the Pacific Northwest. This was a day that demanded patience, the willingness to embrace unglamorous golf solely so the next three days could matter. The kind of round that might appear plodding to the untrained eye but represents the game at its most authoritative.

In short, it was a day for Scheffler.

Scheffler was able to shake off the weather and rust for a two-under 70, putting him in contention after the the opening 18 holes of the relocated Genesis Invitational.

“Yeah, I think it was a mix of stuff,” Scheffler said after his round. “Today's a challenging day and this is a golf course that challenges you in a variety of ways. I felt like I did a lot of good stuff out there, I got off to a really good start and hung in there from there. Weather conditions were changing a bunch and we dealt with a lot of different elements today, so overall it was a pretty solid day.”

The South course at Torrey Pines is the tour equivalent of a heavyweight boxer—not necessarily elegant in its technique, but brutally effective. Its combination of length, narrow fairways and thick rough makes birdies scarce even in ideal conditions. This week's persistent rain transformed that rough into a particularly vengeful hazard. The only bright spot was Wednesday had similar conditions, and though players don’t especially enjoy marathon pro-ams in rain showers, it at least gave them a taste of what awaited.

Anticipating the haymaker doesn't make it hurt any less when it lands. Only three players managed to break 70, while a dozen stumbled to 77 or worse. This wasn't U.S. Open carnage—no one watched helplessly as their apparently solid approaches rolled into distant collection areas, though plenty might have been tempted to test their club's tensile strength. Instead, it was death by a thousand cuts, with Denny McCarthy emerging as the sole survivor atop the leaderboard, powered by a late surge of two birdies and an eagle in his closing four holes. Seamus Power and Patrick Rodgers followed close behind, but the day's most impressive performance belonged to Scheffler.

Fighting the afternoon wave's two-shot scoring disadvantage, he surged to three under through his first seven holes thanks to his approach game, keeping pace with the leaders. A bogey at the 14th came after a drive left him scrambling from a bunker's edge, and a three-putt par at the par-5 18th cost him an eagle chance. Yet on a day when par felt like a minor victory, his red number gleamed like a beacon through the fog.

The round served as a welcome jolt to what had been an inauspicious start to Scheffler's season. His encore to the eight-win campaign of 2024 was put on pause by an ill-fated encounter with some treacherous ravioli, and though he managed a T-9 at Pebble Beach without his best stuff, Scheffler was noticeably frustrated during last week’s WM Phoenix Open. Not that there was genuine concern—after all, three years of metronomic excellence isn't undone by a short sabbatical. In that same breath … Masters week is less than 50 days out.

“I felt like I swung it better than I have the last couple weeks,” Scheffler said. “Typically, If you look at last year, if I was to have results like I did, you would have seen something with my putting I think. If I wasn't competing last year, it was typically because of my putting and the last two weeks I felt like it was odd in the sense that I wasn't driving it very well. So today I felt like I drove it a little bit better. I definitely hit some better iron shots and I continued to putt nicely. So overall I think it was a good building day and hopefully as the week goes on I'll continue to kind of improve my swing feels.”

The forecast promises more of the same Friday, with the weekend offering only modest relief. While Riviera's edition of this tournament drips with Hollywood glamour, Torrey's version this year will be pure grit and grind. There's no room for romance when you're battling both climate and course.

“Yeah, I think it's really fun,” Scheffler said of the conditions. “I think on tour sometimes you always see golf courses in their best conditions typically with the best weather. Besides on the west coast we typically travel around with the best weather, which it's odd to come to California and typically receive some of the worst weather. I think it's interesting. The only other time we really see weather like this would be The Open Championship and I guess when I practice in Dallas.”

That's Scheffler in essence—finding satisfaction in the struggle, drawing energy from the challenge others dread. As the rest of the field wrestles with Torrey's rain-soaked demands, that might be the most daunting forecast of all.