World No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler hasn’t captured a tournament victory since January, though his recent performances have been tantalizingly close to breaking through.
The 29-year-old finished as runner-up in three consecutive tournaments during April before taking time off to gear up for this week’s PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club near Philadelphia.
Though such consistent high finishes would be impressive for most players, Scheffler finds himself fielding questions about why he can’t seal the deal.
“I think it was last week my wife was like, ‘Hey, Scottie, you’re like the first guy in PGA Tour history to have three solo runner-ups in a row.’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, it’s probably because the guy that was playing that good figured out a way to win one of those, he didn’t come second in all three,’” Scheffler joked when speaking with reporters Tuesday.
“A little bit of it is bittersweet. Finishing second in a golf tournament is not bad, but, I mean — especially in the way I did it in a couple of them. I was spotting guys so many strokes going into the weekend, mainly the Masters.”
At Augusta National, Scheffler bounced back from a disappointing second-round 74 with weekend scores of 65-68, ultimately finishing one shot behind Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy. The following week at Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, he posted 64-67 during another weekend charge but fell to England’s Matt Fitzpatrick in a playoff at the RBC Heritage.
His third near-miss came at the Cadillac Championship in Miami, where another sluggish start was partially salvaged by a stronger finish. Despite reaching 13 under par, he trailed winner Cameron Young by six strokes.
“You know you’re playing good golf, and you’d love to get some wins,” said Scheffler. “Finishing second hurts, but I think when you reflect and you’re looking at things to work on, there’s a lot less to clean up when you’re finishing second than there is when you’re finishing 30th.”
Among Scheffler’s four major championships, he has never successfully defended one immediately. His Masters victories were separated by two years before he claimed both the PGA Championship and Open Championship in 2025. This week presents his first opportunity to win consecutive major titles.
Successfully defending a major championship outside Augusta requires favorable course rotation timing. Scheffler triumphed at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte last year, a venue that regularly hosts PGA Tour events. However, he acknowledged Tuesday that he believes he’s never competed in the Philadelphia region before.
“I think a lot of it depends on the golf course. A lot of it depends on the conditions,” Scheffler explained regarding PGA Championship challenges. “If you look at this golf course specifically, between it being soft and firm, I think is two totally different tests. If you’re looking at this golf course when it’s soft, I think there’s a lot of stuff you can kind of get away with in terms of like you can hit it pretty far offline. There’s not many things to block you. …”
“But if you look at this golf course when it’s firm, the fairways are hard to hit. Then if you want to get the ball close to a lot of these pins, you have to control your spin and control your distance really well, which is not that easy to do out of the rough.”
Despite his recent frustrations, Scheffler recognizes his position is enviable compared to struggling with poor results.
“I’d much rather have to sit here and be (asked), ‘Hey, how come you didn’t win last week,’ versus, ‘He finished 15th, like that was a pretty good start for you, game’s starting to turn around.’ It’s a lot better playing good golf,” he said. “… I think those questions are easier to answer.”
