Scottie Scheffler Off to Strong Start at Open Championship

One round of the Open Championship is in the books and a familiar face lurks near the top of the leaderboard. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler carded an opening 3-under 68, a round in which his stats on paper fail to tell the full story.

Scheffler hit just three of 14 fairways, ranking T-150 out of 156 players in the field. He did not, however, drive the ball terribly. The majority of his tee shots were no more than a few yards wide of the often narrow Dunluce Links fairways, locations that tend to result in manageable lies as long as they avoid the punishing pot bunkers.

“I actually thought I drove it pretty good…really only had one swing I wasn't too happy with on maybe the second hole, but outside of that, I felt like I hit a lot of good tee shots, hit the ball really solid,” Scheffler said. “The margins out here are just really small.”

Historically a poor putter in Open Championships, Scottie gained 2.24 strokes on the field putting, a figure that will be important to monitor this week, as it has derailed elite ball-striking performances for him in the past at major championships.

Sitting T-6, Scheffler is just one shot behind the tournament leaders. In four previous Open Championship appearances, Scheffler has never been closer to the lead than three shots back after the first round:

• 2024 Open at Royal Troon: Five shots back (Finished T-7)
• 2023 Open at Royal Liverpool: Four shots back (Finished T-23)
• 2022 Open at St. Andrews: Four shots back (Finished T-21)
• 2021 Open at Royal St. George’s: Three shots back (Finished T-8)

Today’s round marks the fifth time Scottie has been within two of the lead in a major championship after 18 holes. On two of the four other occasions, both at Augusta National, Scottie has gone on to win the championship.

It’s far too early to begin talking about Scottie Scheffler adding a fourth major championship to his résumé this week, but the week couldn’t be off to a much better start for him. He kept the ball in play off the tee, ranked third in the field in Strokes Gained: Approach, and has only one player in front of him on the leaderboard who is ranked in the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking (No. 19 Harris English).

Lots of golf remains to be played, but while the volatile conditions of the Northern Ireland coast could change the complexion of this golf tournament at a moment’s notice, it’s clear who is in the driver's seat through one day of play at Royal Portrush.