2022 was a breakthrough year for Scottie Scheffler

Scottie Scheffler watches his tee shot on the 11th hole during the third round at the 2022 U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass. on Saturday, June 18, 2022. (Chris Keane/USGA)

Paddy Morgan takes a look back at Scottie Scheffler’s incredible year.

Ryder Cup

Scottie Scheffler first came onto the radar as he won the Rookie Of The Year for the 2019/2020 PGA Tour season. He was picked as a wildcard for the 2021 Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits. This week was massive for Scheffler’s development as he learned so much from fellow USA major champions Jordan Spieth, Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas and 2021 FedEx Cup champion Patrick Cantlay. He played three games at Whistling Straits but his best performance came in the singles as he defeated world number one Jon Rahm. This win against Rahm did wonders for Scheffler’s confidence as he realised that his game is good enough to compete with the best.

End of 2021

The Texan gained momentum after participating in a USA win at Whistling Straits as he finished fourth in the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba. He continued to play well as Scheffler finished tied for second at the Houston Open. Scheffler showed in the Houston Open that he is capable of going low as he shot 62 in his second round. Scheffler finished runner-up to Viktor Hovland in the end-of-season Hero World Challenge. These good finishes in the wrap around season set him up well for 2022.

Waste Management

Scheffler shot rounds of 65 and 66 to finish tied seventh at the Farmers Insurance Open. TPC Scottsdale is the venue for the WM Phoenix Open and it’s famous for its stadium par-three 16th. The American shot a remarkable third round of 62 to give himself a chance of winning his first tournament on day four. Scheffler shot a final round of 67 to force a play-off against 2021 PGA Tour Player Of The Year Patrick Cantlay. Scheffler birdied the third playoff hole which was good enough to win his first title on the PGA Tour. March and April

Bay Hill proved to be a tough test for the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Scheffler gave himself a chance of winning as he shot a third round of five under. Hovland and McIlroy were making bogeys for fun and Scheffler avoided the high numbers to win his second tournament on the PGA Tour. His first two wins were both on difficult courses at TPC Scottsdale and Bay Hill.

World number one

Winning in sport is a great feeling and becomes an addiction after a while. Scheffler was the best in a field of 64 at WGC Dell Technologies match play. This was Scheffler’s third win in two months and this brought him to world number one. His rise has been unbelievable and deserved to be number one going into the first major of 2022.

The Masters

Usually all the pressure is on the world number one at The Masters but this year was different due to return of Tiger Woods to professional golf. All the talk was about Woods and Scheffler just went about his business without a fuss. Scheffler took a handsome lead into the third round but let the field back into the tournament after multiple bogeys on the back nine of day three.

Scheffler played in the final group with 2020 runner-up Cameron Smith with The American having a three-shot advantage. Smith’s challenge came to an end as he put the ball into the water on the par-three 12th and Scheffler held his nerve down the stretch to win his first major.

Rest of 2022

Sometimes it takes a while to come back down to normality after winning a major but this didn’t happen to Scheffler as he has an old head on young shoulders. He missed the cut at Southern Hills but bounced back immediately to lose in a playoff at Charles Schwab Challenge. It looked as if Scheffler was going to win his second major of 2022 after shooting a final round of 67 at Brookline but came up one shot short. Scheffler contended in the final major of 2022 at the Old Course after shooting two consecutive rounds of 68 and a third round of 69 but the wind went out of his sails after a final round of 74. A great year in the majors with a green jacket now in his wardrobe.

Tour Championship

He went into the Tour Championship at the top of the standings on ten under. He was impeccable for three rounds but a poor final round meant that he had to settle for a tied second finish. Some players get frustrated when they don’t win like McIlroy ripping his shirt off but you never see Scheffler doing that as he is very laid back. Scheffler’s best finishes of 2022/2023 PGA Tour season so far are a tied third at Mayakoba and a second at Houston Open.

Scheffler had a fantastic year and it wouldn’t be a shock if he won his second major next year. My opinion is that Scheffler has a great game and is capable in taking on McIlroy down the stretch.