PGA Tour: Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele contending once more

Contemplating how properly Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele have performed this 12 months, it ought to come as no shock to see their names on the leaderboard but once more.

Taking part in collectively, they signed for 4-under 66s on a scorching and humid day in Memphis. Scheffler and Schauffele sit in a tie for fifth after day one on the FedEx St. Jude Championship, two strokes behind Chris Kirk, whose hole-in-one on the 14th gap propelled him into the solo lead.

“I really feel like we each obtained off to good begins right now,” Scheffler mentioned.

“Felt like I obtained just a little chilly there on the again 9, however general I feel a strong begin to the week.”

Certainly, Schauffele opened with three consecutive birdies whereas Scheffler had 4 breakers of his personal over his first six holes. The World No. 1 even sliced his second shot into the water on the par-5 third however nonetheless managed to avoid wasting par.

However the back-nine, as he alluded to, was a special story. Scheffler struggled along with his irons, whereas Schauffele couldn’t capitalize on alternatives.

Nonetheless, Schauffele managed to not make any bogies.

“It was good to go bogey-free,” Schauffele mentioned.

“May have snuck a few bogeys in there. Total, going round this property bogey-free is all the time factor.”

Scheffler, alternatively, did drop one on the par-4 thirteenth attributable to a poor bunker shot. In a uncommon burst of frustration, Scheffler slammed his wedge into the sand after his strike, which landed 13 ft past the opening.

“It was a reasonably simple shot. I hit only a horrible shot,” Scheffler mentioned.

Photograph by Andy Lyons/Getty Photos

“It was type of a lack-of-focus kind of second. Yeah, I felt like I did job getting myself right into a place the place I may make what I believed was going to be a straightforward par, after which I simply hit an terrible shot and value myself one there.”

Scheffler bounced again with a birdie on the par-5 sixteenth to get again to 4-under for the championship. Humorous sufficient, Schauffele made his solely birdie on the again 9 there, too.

It appeared as if these two gamers fed off one another all day, exhibiting at occasions how they’re presently the very best duo on the planet. In addition they have super respect for one another and admire each other vastly.

“I feel he’s actually constant. He’s a man that he’s by no means actually out of a gap,” Scheffler mentioned of Schauffele.

“Typically all through the course of a spherical, you’re feeling like he’s going to make a mistake, and he bounces again actually shortly, and he’s additionally a tremendously exhausting employee, so that you like seeing guys like which have success.”

Schauffele, after all, gained the PGA Championship and The Open Championship this season—his first two main titles of his profession. He now has as many main wins as Scheffler, who has triumphed at Augusta Nationwide twice.

“Simply now enjoying with him just a little bit extra, performed a variety of rounds with him on the Olympics, he actually doesn’t miss a shot usually. His golf ball is both, like, good, or it’s like a three- or four-yard pull or three- or four-yard push,” Schauffele mentioned of Scheffler, who has six wins and an Olympic gold medal this 12 months.

“If he’s obtained good sight strains with [his caddie] Ted [Scott], it looks as if he’s all the time within the fairway and all the time within the gap. He makes golf actually boring, which is what all of us actually need to do as a result of tee to inexperienced, he’s a monster, and now he’s making putts, so it’s nice for everybody else.”

Scheffler really had day on the greens on Thursday, rating eleventh among the many 70-player discipline in strokes gained placing. That ought to definitely scare everybody else on the sector, contemplating how properly he has performed from tee to inexperienced all season.

However the truth that Scheffler and Schauffele obtained off to good begins ought to have everybody else on excessive alert. These two are in a tier of their very own proper now, enjoying higher than anybody. So, there isn’t any doubt that they’ll proceed to contend all through the weekend and the FedEx Cup Playoffs as a complete.

Jack Milko is a golf workers author for SB Nation’s Taking part in Via. Be sure you take a look at @_PlayingThrough for extra golf protection. You possibly can observe him on Twitter @jack_milko as properly.