Scottie Scheffler’s 21-round streak of shooting below 70 ends with a 70 at the Procore Championship.  Read about his tough round and the exciting end at Silverado Resort.

Scottie Scheffler’s streak ended with a 70 in the first round of the Procore Championship

NAPA, Calif. (AP) Scottie Scheffler’s amazing 21-round streak of shooting scores under 70 ended on Thursday at the Procore Championship, where he shot a 2-under 70.  The world No. 1’s streak, which started at the Travelers Championship in June, finally came to an end after an exciting round at Silverado Resort.

Scheffler had a slow start and some frustrating times

Scheffler started out slowly, making a bogey on the fourth hole, which is a par-4, with three putts from 15 feet.  But he came back with birdies on holes 7 and 8, making putts from 20 and 3 feet.  He kept going strong on the 10th hole, hitting a wedge shot that landed within 3 feet of the hole for another birdie.  A bad tee shot on the par-3 11th hole cost him a bogey, and even though he almost made it on the par-4 16th hole, Scheffler could only get a birdie. He ended the day 7 strokes behind the leader, Mackenzie Hughes, who played in the morning wave.

The Exciting End on the 18th Hole

The most exciting part of Scheffler’s round was the par-5 18th hole, where a bad tee shot landed in the trees on the next hole.  Scheffler punched out onto the 16th fairway while standing next to a tree. After a short walk back to the 18th, he hit his third shot high over tents and trees onto the green, leaving him 40 feet from the flag.  He made two putts to save a par that was unlikely but still very much his style.

“I was behind all those tents and a scoreboard, and I wish I could have seen the pin when I was hitting my approach,” Scheffler said.  “Of course, you should probably be on the right hole when you do that, but I could have gotten help from the grandstand area. Either way, I would have ended up in the rough, so it wasn’t really worth it.”

Scheffler’s Problems on the Greens

Scheffler hit 10 of 14 greens in regulation and made just over 60 feet of putts by the end of the day.  He had a hard time with the greens, especially when the Poa annua grass got bumpy later in the day.  Scheffler said, “The greens can be pretty hard, and Poa annua can get pretty bumpy late in the day.”  “I ended up on the wrong side of the hole a few times, especially because these greens have so much pitch.”

 

Scheffler stayed positive despite the problems. He said, “I learned a lot about the golf course today, and I’m looking forward to getting out early tomorrow and seeing what I can do.”

Teammates from the Ryder Cup get together at Silverado

Scheffler played with Russell Henley and J.J. Spaun, who is making his first appearance at the Ryder Cup.  The three players got to know each other better by playing together at the same time, which helped them get ready for the Ryder Cup in two weeks.  Spaun beat Scheffler with a 5-under 67, which made them think about how close they were.

“We want to get used to playing with each other,” Spaun said.  “It’s nice to play with [Scheffler] and learn from him, but it’s also important to be comfortable with who you are.”

Scheffler’s impressive streaks go on

Scheffler still has some impressive records, even though his streak of rounds under 70 came to an end.  His streak of 14 straight top-eight finishes, which started in March, is still going strong.  “I won at Portrush this year, which was my first time on the golf course.  “Just wanted to throw that in there,” Scheffler said when talking about how well he played on new courses for the first time.

What Will Scheffler Do Next?

Scheffler’s 70 in the first round wasn’t great, but his consistent play and strong finish to the day show that he’s still in the race.  Don’t count out the number one player in the world just yet; he wants to come back on Friday.