How Scottie Scheffler performed at The Open Championship the last time he missed the cut at the Scottish Open
· Yahoo Sports
Had golf fans been told that Scottie Scheffler would continue his run of either missing the cut or finishing in the top 10 at the Scottish Open this year, they would have likely assumed that the world number one had enjoyed another impressive week in a strange season.
It had been nearly four years since Scheffler had missed a cut on the PGA Tour. And while he had flirted with taking the weekend off at the Genesis Invitational and the Memorial Tournament earlier this year, it was a seismic shock when he finished his second round at The Renaissance Club at level par.
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It is far from ideal preparation as he gears up to defend The Open Championship next week at Royal Birkdale.
But it is not the first time that Scottie Scheffler has gone into the final major of the year having missed the cut in North Berwick.
Where Scottie Scheffler was heading into The Open Championship at St Andrews
Scheffler enjoyed a rapid rise between his first two appearances at The Open Championship.
He made a hugely successful Ryder Cup debut at Whistling Straits shortly after his first Open at Royal St George’s, where he finished tied for eighth. Meanwhile, he won The Masters in 2022.
But heading into The Open Championship at St Andrews, Scheffler missed the cut at the Scottish Open. He was actually five over par for the week.
Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty ImagesNevertheless, speaking after his second round in Scotland, Scheffler insisted that he was not too concerned about his overall form as he prepared to take on The Home of Golf.
“Well, today I actually played fine. I got a couple really bad breaks on the front nine. Outside of that, I played fine today. Yesterday was the day where I played just absolutely horrendous,” he said.
“Going to next week, I feel like I’m still in a pretty good spot. A couple things to work on but I feel like I’m in a good spot.”
Scottie Scheffler questioned whether he got the credit he deserved
Interestingly, Scheffler was ever so slightly prickly once he got to St Andrews when asked in his pre-tournament press conference about being the world number one throughout the summer.
“I guess I am number one in the rankings. I’m not sure if I’m necessarily perceived that way by you all or whoever it is, but that’s not stuff that I really ever think about. For me I’m just trying to go out and play good golf,” he said.
“It’s definitely different. I was talking to my wife at the beginning of this week, it’s definitely different when I go out and play practice rounds and there’s people around, and I come in here to do this stuff. Six months ago I definitely wasn’t asked to come in the press room unless I was winning.
“So there’s definitely a bit more activity going on at tournaments. That’s something I’m learning how to navigate. And I’m kind of learning on the go right now.
“When I sit back this off-season, I’ll kind of assess how much I play and stuff like that, just because it takes more energy now to show up to an event than it did before. Before, I could come out here and not really have to do anything. I could just show up and play and be done. Now things are a little different.
“But it’s a fun different. It’s fun to be able to come in here. It’s fun to interact with fans during my practice rounds when things are a little bit lighter. When you get in the heat of competition, it’s a little bit different. But practice rounds, having some people around and getting to have some fun, it’s definitely been a good time. But it’s something I’ll assess at the end of this year.”
Scheffler put himself in position to win the Claret Jug before a poor final round at The Home of Golf
Scheffler would prove his quality in his opening round. He made three birdies in a row on the front nine on his way to putting himself in a tie for fifth at four under par. He was four shots back of surprise leader Cameron Young.
Scheffler admitted after his opening round that he was taken aback by the conditions.
“Seriously, it was just so firm out there, and the wind was blowing. It was just playing tough. It’s tough to get the ball close to the hole,” he said.
“There’s a few holes where I don’t know if it’s possible to even hit the fairway, like if you’re going to take the bunkers out of play, you can’t hit the fairway. So we’re kind of just trying to manage our way around the golf course and play into certain spots.”
There were plenty of similarities between Scheffler’s first two rounds, with the American making just one bogey and going on a run of making three successive birdies on his way to posting a 68.
The round left him one place further down the leaderboard, and one shot further back of new leader Cameron Smith.
Scheffler outlined just how difficult it was to adjust to the challenge of links golf.
“It’s a pretty big change. The stuff we saw yesterday afternoon I hadn’t seen before on the course. We’re hitting drives 400-something yards. There’s bunkers that are 380 yards away and I’m sitting here with a 3-wood going, oh, man, I might be able to get there. It’s definitely a lot different,” he said.
A round of 69 on Saturday kept Scheffler in the mix with just 18 holes to play. He did make two bogeys on the back nine to miss the chance to move even closer to Viktor Hovland and Rory McIlroy.
And Scheffler would suggest that he could have left himself with even more of an opportunity if he had been better on the greens.
“Guys are pretty good at golf. There’s a lot of talent out here. And I’m hanging in there. Outside of a few putts going in today, I could have been a lot closer to the lead. But that’s how it goes,” he said after his third round.
“I hit a lot of good putts out there. They’re just dodging the cup. But looks like I’ll probably be about six shots back going into tomorrow. Never know what can happen.”
Unfortunately, Scheffler’s slim hopes were dashed by the turn on Sunday.
He made three bogeys in five holes on the front nine to drop back to eight under par for the week.
Ultimately, Scheffler finished 11 shots back of eventual winner Smith in a tie for 21st. It led to his second worst result in The Open, with Scheffler finishing two places lower at Hoylake the following year.
There would soon be further frustration for Scheffler. He missed the cut at the FedEx St. Jude Championship on his next start the following month.
But of course, that would be Scheffler’s last missed cut in any event until the latter stages of the 2026 season.