Scottie Scheffler is back in his home state as the best golfer in the world.
Thanks to his runner-up finish to Brooks Koepka at the PGA Championship, the Texan reclaimed the No. 1 spot in the Official World Golf Ranking, pushing Jon Rahm to No. 2 (the Spaniard tied for 50th at Oak Hill).
The vibes should be high in Fort Worth, Texas, at the 2023 Charles Schwab Challenge for Scheffler, who lost in a playoff to his best bud Sam Burns at Colonial Country Club last season and comes into the week in great form.
But is the hunger there a few days after a major championship?
“I’m typically pretty hungry to win whatever event it is,” he said Wednesday after his nine-hole pro-am. “I show up expecting to come here and play well and do my best. Yeah, I’m hoping for a good finish this week, but I try not to look too far ahead.”
Scheffler has loved playing in front of the Lone Star State crowd all year, finishing T-9 at the Houston Open in the fall, grabbing fourth at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play in March and tying for fifth at the AT&T Byron Nelson a few weeks ago.
In fact, going back to last season, Scheffler’s worst finish in Texas during his 2021-22 campaign was a tie for 15th at the Nelson.
Just another reason why the vibes should be high for world No. 1.
“It’s nice being back here at home and being able to play an event. … to be able to sleep in my own bed this week and able to just be at home the last two days was definitely important in terms of rest. Then playing in front of a home crowd as the week goes on is always really fun,” Scheffler said.
His relationship with this event started way before he turned professional. Scheffler’s been coming here since he was a kid.
“I grew up coming to this tournament. Being able to come here and play the golf course and compete is definitely very special for me,” he said. “I’ve grown up dreaming of being out here, and now being on the other side where I’m inside the ropes and trying to do my best and compete is definitely very special.
“I remember showing up here with my dad and just coming out and watching. My dad loved to watch golf. When I grew up, any time I could get a chance to go to the PGA Tour, it was pretty cool. So come out here on practice round days and watch guys.
“I typically liked the practice round days more just because you could get closer to guys and I liked just watching. It wasn’t as much about the atmosphere. It was more just me watching and learning from those guys.”
As a young player growing up in Texas, there’s one name that stands out among the rest that Scheffler looked towards as inspiration.
Jordan Spieth.
“Jordan, he was another guy I looked up to growing up,” he said. “He was always a few years ahead of me and crushing it from a young age. So he was always a guy I looked up to and was able to bounce things off of when I was thinking about turning pro, when I turned pro. He’s always been a guy that’s given me great advice, and he’s such a talented player.”
Time will tell if Scheffler can turn in a performance good enough to earn the title come Sunday, just like Spieth did at Colonial in 2016.
