Considering how well Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele have played this year, it should come as no surprise to see their names on the leaderboard yet again.
Playing together, they signed for 4-under 66s on a hot and humid day in Memphis. Scheffler and Schauffele sit in a tie for fifth after day one at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, two strokes behind Chris Kirk, whose hole-in-one on the 14th hole propelled him into the solo lead.
“I feel like we both got off to good starts today,” Scheffler said.
“Felt like I got a little cold there on the back nine, but overall I think a solid start to the week.”
Indeed, Schauffele opened with three consecutive birdies while Scheffler had four breakers of his own over his first six holes. The World No. 1 even sliced his second shot into the water on the par-5 3rd but still managed to save par.
But the back-nine, as he alluded to, was a different story. Scheffler struggled with his irons, while Schauffele could not capitalize on opportunities.
Still, Schauffele managed to not make any bogies.
“It was good to go bogey-free,” Schauffele said.
“Could have snuck a couple of bogeys in there. Overall, going around this property bogey-free is always a good thing.”
Scheffler, on the other hand, did drop one on the par-4 13th due to a poor bunker shot. In a rare burst of frustration, Scheffler slammed his wedge into the sand after his strike, which landed 13 feet beyond the hole.
“It was a pretty easy shot. I hit just a horrible shot,” Scheffler said.
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“It was kind of a lack-of-focus type of moment. Yeah, I felt like I did a good job getting myself into a position where I could make what I thought was going to be an easy par, and then I just hit an awful shot and cost myself one there.”
Scheffler bounced back with a birdie on the par-5 16th to get back to 4-under for the championship. Funny enough, Schauffele made his only birdie on the back nine there, too.
It seemed as if these two players fed off each other all day, showing at times how they are currently the best duo on the planet. They also have tremendous respect for each other and admire one another greatly.
“I think he’s really consistent. He’s a guy that he’s never really out of a hole,” Scheffler said of Schauffele.
“Sometimes throughout the course of a round, you feel like he’s going to make a mistake, and he bounces back really quickly, and he’s also a tremendously hard worker, so you like seeing guys like that have success.”
Schauffele, of course, won the PGA Championship and The Open Championship this season—his first two major titles of his career. He now has as many major wins as Scheffler, who has triumphed at Augusta National twice.
“Just now playing with him a little bit more, played a lot of rounds with him at the Olympics, he really doesn’t miss a shot often. His golf ball is either, like, perfect, or it’s like a three- or four-yard pull or three- or four-yard push,” Schauffele said of Scheffler, who has six wins and an Olympic gold medal this year.
“If he’s got good sight lines with [his caddie] Ted [Scott], it seems like he’s always in the fairway and always in the hole. He makes golf really boring, which is what all of us really want to do because tee to green, he’s a monster, and now he’s making putts, so it’s great for everyone else.”
Scheffler actually had a good day on the greens on Thursday, ranking 11th among the 70-player field in strokes gained putting. That should certainly scare everyone else on the field, considering how well he has played from tee to green all season.
But the fact that Scheffler and Schauffele got off to good starts should have everyone else on high alert. These two are in a tier of their own right now, playing better than anyone. So, there is no doubt that they will continue to contend throughout the weekend and the FedEx Cup Playoffs as a whole.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
