Scottie Scheffler did something that he has never done in his career at The Open Championship at Royal Portrush.
The world number one flew to the top of the leaderboard at 10 under par after day two of the championship, one shot ahead of in-form Matt Fitzpatrick. He had eight birdies and only one bogey on Friday for a seven-under round.
Scheffler is a three-time major winner, and has won the Masters twice in his already esteemed career. But in his Friday performance, he achieved something he has never achieved before.
Scottie Scheffler achieves lowest ever score at a major championship
Scheffler’s 64 in round two of The Open is the lowest score he has ever recorded in a major championship.
He has put up some dominant performances over the years, and won this year’s PGA Championship by five shots over Harris English, but he has never shot so low on the biggest stage.
Speaking on Scheffler’s performance at The Open, Sky Sports’ Wayne Riley compared the American to Tiger Woods.
He said, “He’s one of those guys that walks around with the demeanour that he doesn’t care. It’s something that he possesses, and we haven’t seen it since Tiger Woods. He’s by far the best player in the world right now.”
Scheffler openly reflected on his career earlier in the week, and admitted that he sometimes wonders what the point of winning is since the feeling of achievement is so fleeting. He mentioned that his family is what is most important to him, not golf, which could explain his calm presence on the course.
Scottie Scheffler ‘proud’ of his second round performance at the Open
The ever level-headed Scheffler allowed some room for reflection on his round, saying he could be proud of his score on the day.
He said, “I felt like I did a lot of things well. I holed some nice putts and hit a lot of really good iron shots. I definitely hit a few more fairways than I did yesterday, so I’m pretty proud of the number I was able to post.”
Scheffler’s statistics this weekend are jarring. He isn’t driving the ball well, ranking 93rd in the 156-man Open field. But he ranks first in his approach shots and first in his putting, allowing him to lead all players going into the weekend.
On that, he added, “Off the tee, I’m surprised I wasn’t a little bit better, but overall I’m definitely hitting the ball pretty solid, and I hit some nice putts as well.”
A confident Scheffler is a scary prospect for the rest of the competitors. If he starts driving the ball even slightly better, it is well and truly over for everyone else.