If Scottie Scheffler had a weakness to his game, it was links golf; you don’t get a whole lot of windy, cold-rain Scottish-style rounds growing up in Texas. We say “had” because, as you’d expect, Scheffler appears to have figured out links golf, given that he finished Thursday’s first round of the British Open at -3, one stroke off the clubhouse lead.
Scheffler doesn’t have much experience at this major — this is just his fifth British Open in a career decorated with stateside wins. But look a bit closer; he has two top-10 finishes already, and he’s gaining momentum as he gains experience with the strangeness and quirks of links golf.
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Thursday was a perfect example of his ability to handle links-style adversity. Although he only hit three fairways, he nonetheless managed to scramble his way right up to the top of the leaderboard. Consider, for instance, how he handled the tricky 17th:
Only a pair of bogeys on the 9th and 11th marred Scheffler’s round. Over the final three treacherous holes, Scheffler went birdie-birdie-par for a full-round 68. He’ll go out on Thursday at 10:10 a.m. Eastern time.
Scottie Scheffler is in the midst of conquering links golf. Good luck, everyone else.
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