One of the more surprising events on Sunday at the PGA Championship involved Scottie Scheffler failing to make any sort of significant charge up the leaderboard at Aronimink.
Scheffler missed out on finishing inside the top 10 at a major championship for the first time since the 2024 US Open this past week.
Advertisement
It was a shock considering that the world number one was tied for the lead after the opening day. Rounds of 71 on both Friday and Saturday left him facing an uphill battle.
Ultimately, Scheffler was unable to find that extra gear that he needed to stand any chance on Sunday in Philadelphia.
Johnson Wagner reacts to Scottie Scheffler’s performance at the PGA Championship
No player in the top 14 performed worse than Scheffler on the greens across the week. According to Data Golf, the 29-year-old lost 0.42 shots per round with the putter in hand.
With Scheffler going into the PGA Championship off the back of three second place finishes, some may be tempted to wonder whether he is going to add to his one victory this year.
Advertisement
The CJ CUP Byron Nelson is up next for Scheffler. And speaking on Scorecard on CBS, Johnson Wagner insisted that he expects to see him enjoy more luck with the flatstick at TPC Craig Ranch.
Photo by Ben Jared/PGA TOUR via Getty Images
“I walked with his group Saturday, he was amazing. He drove the ball great, his iron play was spectacular. His short game was not as tight as I’m used to seeing. But the putting, he had chance after chance on that back nine to really grab the PGA Championship by the collar and he just couldn’t. He couldn’t hole the putts,” he said.
“I think getting back to a place that he’s won at, close to home, greens and weather he’s a little bit more familiar with, I think the putting’s going to be just fine. I think Doral and Aronimink, just the grain changes and the difficulty of those greens just set Scottie back a little bit.”
Advertisement
What Wagner noticed about Jon Rahm’s performance at Aronimink
The heavyweight who came closest to lifting the Wanamaker Trophy on Sunday was Jon Rahm, with the Spaniard finishing in a tie for second.
It was an incredibly impressive showing from Rahm who has seen his form heavily scrutinised since he decided to join LIV Golf in December 2023. In fact, it was his first top five in a major since making the jump.
And Wagner suggested what he noticed about Rahm’s demeanour at the PGA Championship.
“I think you’re feeling a lot of confidence that it’s been a while. I know Quail Hollow last year at the PGA, he had a much better chance than the result ended up, he didn’t birdie 14, 15 and had to fire at some tough holes. But I think Jon Rahm is going to look at that back nine, super clean, the hot start,” he said.
Advertisement
“I think he’s feeling come Shinnecock time, the more difficult the course gets, the better Jon Rahm does. For me, when you watch Jon Rahm compete he has that look in his eye, it’s scary. He had that look this weekend, and I wasn’t playing against him, so it’s fun to see, not scary.”
It is going to be fascinating to see whether Rahm or Scheffler performs better over the last two majors of the year.
Rahm’s finish at Aronimink could be a turning point. Meanwhile, Scheffler must be growing tired with everyone wondering why he cannot quite find the level that led to him dominating the PGA Tour for several years.
Read the full article here
