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Golf Monthly
Golf Monthly
Sport
Paul Higham

Scottie Scheffler Makes Worst Ever PGA Tour Start As First-Round Struggles Continue At Riviera

Scottie Scheffler in action at the first round of Genesis Invitational at Riviera.

Slow starts have become a theme recently for Scottie Scheffler of late, but he's made his worst one ever on the PGA Tour during the rain affected first round of the Genesis Invitational.

It's a rare sight to see the World No.1 at the bottom of a leaderboard, but he was propping up the field when play was stopped on the first day at a sodden Riviera Country Club.

The caveat of course is that due to weather delays Scheffler had only completed 10 holes before Thursday's play came to a close - but it was the worst 10-hole start he'd ever made on the PGA Tour.

Scheffler made three bogeys and a double bogey in an error-strewn start at Riviera to sit on five over for 10 holes, which stats guru Justin Ray reliably informed us all was his worst ever return.

His next worst was a four-over start after 10 holes of the 2014 Byron Nelson - when Scheffler was a mere 17-year-old amateur just starting out on what would build into an amazing career.

And it's the four-time Major champion's dominant displays of brilliant consistency that make any big mishaps like Thursday at Riviera headline news in golfing circles.

Even if Scheffler can rescue the situation on Friday, it still marks three first rounds in a row for him, after also starting slowly at the WM Phoenix Open and AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

We also have to emphasize these are bad starts for Scheffler, given his insane level of production - as on the face of things shooting 73 at TPC Scottsdale and 72 at Pebble Beach aren't exactly disasters.

Phoenix was a bad round statistically for Scheffler. It snapped a run of 33 straight rounds under par and he showed rare signs of frustration after some basic errors.

He came roaring back both times though to finish T3 and T4 and make it an amazing 18 consecutive top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour - the most since Billy Casper's 17 in 1964-65.

So he'll likely not stay at the foot of the leaderboard much longer, but he already has a lot of ground to make up on clubhouse leader Rory McIlroy, who made his best ever start to the tournament.

The Northern Irishman is making his 10th start at Riviera and carded a five-under round of 66 as he navigated the tough conditions with just one bogey.

Jacob Bridgeman was the only man who could match McIlroy's 66, but England's Aaron Rai could top him as he sat on six under after 16 holes.

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