Scottie Scheffler will make his way to Augusta National on Sunday night to get some pre-Masters week preparation in and he might just do that with a third straight PGA Tour title in his pocket.
The world number one, bidding to become the first player to win three PGA TOUR events in a row since Dustin Johnson at the 2017 WGC Match Play.
He is also looking to become the first man since Rory McIlroy in 2014 to win three straight strokeplay events in a row on the PGA Tour and he was in ominous form, opening with a bogey-free 65 at the Texas Children’s Houston Open to sit just one shot off the lead.
Scheffler previously won the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the PLAYERS Championship in successive weeks, carrying a neck injury in the latter, but he is over that now and feels in perfect condition.
“Yeah, neck’s feeling better, body feels good. Like I said, the off week was good for me to get some rest, get some rehab. I took a couple more days off than I typically would last week, so it was some good recovery time,” he said.
Scheffler opened the Texas Children’s Houston Open with a 5-under 65, playing bogey-free on a lengthy Memorial Park Golf Course, one back of Thursday’s early leader Taylor Moore who was joined later in the day by PGA TOUR rookie Wilson Furr. After saying Wednesday that he was “shaking off a little bit of rust,” Scheffler carded his 28th consecutive under-par round to start the season (the most on record), with plenty of room to spare.
“Yeah, I would say some key up-and-downs,” said Scheffler, who never missed in the wrong spot and gained nearly two-and-a-half shots on the field with the putter.
“I made a nice putt there at the first to kind of get the round going and made some really nice up-and-downs after that.
“I had a solid round. Kept the card clean. Bogey-free is always nice, especially around a golf course like this. It’s nice to be able to keep the card clean, like I said.”
No beard, no problem.
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