Scottie Scheffler finds groove, climbs leaderboard at Charles Schwab Challenge

FORT WORTH, Texas — The No. 1 player in the world was a bit of a mystery early at the Charles Schwab Challenge. He shot 68-71 on a scoreable par-70 course he knows and historically plays well. He never factored. He slid down the leaderboard. He made the cut by one. He started the third round Saturday in a tie for 49th place.

Then Scottie Scheffler birdied the first and second holes at Colonial Country Club. He made two more, at the sixth and ninth, the machine humming as it did last week, at the PGA Championship that he won by five, and his previous start, THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson, which he won, an astounding 31 under par. Another birdie Saturday at the iconic par-4 tenth. Scheffler sank a 14-foot eagle putt on the arduously long par-5 11th, and all of a sudden he was 8-under par, 7-under on his round, and right where he typically is found these days at a golf tournament: near the lead. Mystery solved.

Scheffler finished with a 64. He bogeyed three holes on the back nine. But the seven birdies and the eagle, a “dream start” in Scheffler’s own words, suggested that Matti Schmid, Ben Griffin, Andrew Novak, 2023 champion Emiliano Grillo and the others ahead of him might not want to take anything for granted.

“You are always going to hope to go play a perfect round,” Scheffler said. “It basically never happens. I mean, three bogeys definitely hurts, especially when you are trying to chase, but overall I did some good things today. I'm definitely going to need to do more of the same tomorrow.”

Scheffler has made six starts at the Charles Schwab. He was there in 2020, when the PGA TOUR restarted its season during the pandemic, and tied for 55th. He missed the cut a year later.

Then he figured out Colonial in a deeper way. He was runner-up in 2022. He tied for third in 2023. He shared second in 2024.

Since his first appearance at the Schwab, Scheffler has won 15 tournaments, including three major championships. He’s a manifestly different player in every way — a better putter, the best game manager in the sport, a dead-eye closer and that rare competitor who looks at a difference of seven shots, which is how far back he was from the lead when he finished, and sees nothing but potential.

“I'm just out here battling,” he said. “I had a good day today. The first two days definitely could have been a bit better, but we'll see how things shake out during the course of the afternoon and see what I can do tomorrow.”