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McKINNEY, Texas — It’s not often the world No. 1 sounds as if he’s chasing rather than setting the pace — especially at a tournament that means as much to him as this one.
Yet that was the tone Scottie Scheffler struck Thursday at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson.
Paired alongside Brooks Koepka and Si Woo Kim, the defending champion spent much of the afternoon playing from a step behind, unable to quite find the rhythm that defined his runaway victory a year ago. For long stretches, he hovered, watching others apply early pressure.
But Scheffler did what the game’s best players tend to do — he found something late.
A handful of birdies down the closing stretch steadied the round and salvaged momentum, turning what could have felt like a missed opportunity into a quietly productive 5-under 66, well within striking distance of another weekend charge on familiar ground.
More: CJ Cup Byron Nelson scoreboard live updates: Will Scottie Scheffler repeat?
"I felt like I was getting lapped out there for a little bit. So I was fortunate to make a couple birdies late in the round and keep myself in the tournament," Scheffler said. "I feel like sometimes in these tests, once you start getting behind, you can kind of start falling pretty far behind, and it can be difficult to catch up. It was nice to kind of stay in it.
"Overall, it was a fun group. We had good momentum in the group the whole day. ... Brooks played great, and Si Woo played really nice as well. Hopefully, more of that the next couple days."
Scheffler now owns a streak of 31 consecutive top-25 finishes on Tour, and he's looking for his third victory in the state of Texas, following last year's dominant win here and his 2022 win in the now-defunct Dell Match Play event at Austin Country Club.
But Kim birdied four of the first eight holes and Koepka followed a birdie on his second hole with an eagle, so Scheffler was struggling to play catch-up.
He didn't panic, however and finished with birdies on three of his last five holes.
"It's still early in the tournament. It's still golf, you can't force it," he said. "Worst thing you could do is kind of make a sloppy bogey and give up a shot trying to force one in there. So just kind of choose your spots and see what you can do.
Scheffler putted the ball well, with over 92 feet in putts made on the morning, and if he can continue that trend, he expects to be among the leaders on Sunday.
"You kind of just go through ebbs and flows, and putting is something, especially when you're putting in wind and on greens without much slope, there's going to be variants and how things are going," Scheffler said. "Overall, I feel like I'm in a good spot. I've actually putted the best that I have in my career so far this year and just kind of get a reset, get on some new greens, work on my reads, make sure I'm checking all my fundamentals.
"I think golf is riding the ebbs and flows and continue to work on the things that I feel like I need to work on and just continue to go do those things."
Tim Schmitt is the managing editor of Golfweek.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Scottie Scheffler rallies late in first round at Byron Nelson
Continue reading...
Yet that was the tone Scottie Scheffler struck Thursday at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson.
Paired alongside Brooks Koepka and Si Woo Kim, the defending champion spent much of the afternoon playing from a step behind, unable to quite find the rhythm that defined his runaway victory a year ago. For long stretches, he hovered, watching others apply early pressure.
But Scheffler did what the game’s best players tend to do — he found something late.
A handful of birdies down the closing stretch steadied the round and salvaged momentum, turning what could have felt like a missed opportunity into a quietly productive 5-under 66, well within striking distance of another weekend charge on familiar ground.
More: CJ Cup Byron Nelson scoreboard live updates: Will Scottie Scheffler repeat?
"I felt like I was getting lapped out there for a little bit. So I was fortunate to make a couple birdies late in the round and keep myself in the tournament," Scheffler said. "I feel like sometimes in these tests, once you start getting behind, you can kind of start falling pretty far behind, and it can be difficult to catch up. It was nice to kind of stay in it.
"Overall, it was a fun group. We had good momentum in the group the whole day. ... Brooks played great, and Si Woo played really nice as well. Hopefully, more of that the next couple days."
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Scheffler now owns a streak of 31 consecutive top-25 finishes on Tour, and he's looking for his third victory in the state of Texas, following last year's dominant win here and his 2022 win in the now-defunct Dell Match Play event at Austin Country Club.
But Kim birdied four of the first eight holes and Koepka followed a birdie on his second hole with an eagle, so Scheffler was struggling to play catch-up.
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He didn't panic, however and finished with birdies on three of his last five holes.
"It's still early in the tournament. It's still golf, you can't force it," he said. "Worst thing you could do is kind of make a sloppy bogey and give up a shot trying to force one in there. So just kind of choose your spots and see what you can do.
Scottie Scheffler's history at the Byron Nelson
| Year | Finish | Score (To Par) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 1 | -31 | Won by 8 shots; tied PGA Tour 72-hole scoring record (253) |
| 2024 | DNP | — | Did not play (birth of first child) |
| 2023 | T5 | -20 | Contended at Craig Ranch |
| 2022 | T15 | -19 | Another low-scoring week |
| 2021 | T47 | -11 | First start at TPC Craig Ranch |
| 2019 | T3 | -21 | Breakout early-career contention (Trinity Forest era) |
| 2014 | T22 | - 4 | PGA Tour debut as a 17-year-old amateur |
Scheffler putted the ball well, with over 92 feet in putts made on the morning, and if he can continue that trend, he expects to be among the leaders on Sunday.
"You kind of just go through ebbs and flows, and putting is something, especially when you're putting in wind and on greens without much slope, there's going to be variants and how things are going," Scheffler said. "Overall, I feel like I'm in a good spot. I've actually putted the best that I have in my career so far this year and just kind of get a reset, get on some new greens, work on my reads, make sure I'm checking all my fundamentals.
"I think golf is riding the ebbs and flows and continue to work on the things that I feel like I need to work on and just continue to go do those things."
Tim Schmitt is the managing editor of Golfweek.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Scottie Scheffler rallies late in first round at Byron Nelson
Continue reading...
