NAPA, Calif. (AP) — Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 player in golf, still remembers the time he was last.
The Ryder Cup being next on the horizon serves as yet another reminder of how quickly his absurd level of dominance came together. The day Scheffler arrived in Napa was the four-year anniversary of him being announced as a captain’s pick for his first Ryder Cup.
He was at No. 21 in the world with 13 other Americans ahead of him. He had yet to win on the PGA Tour. Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker was on the phone.
“I think it was fairly obvious I was probably the last guy on the team,” Scheffler said. “I remember getting the phone call. I didn’t know if he was going to call me and give me really bad news or really good news. It’s kind of weird preparing for something you don’t know if it’s going to be amazing or if it’s just going to absolutely break your heart.
“But it was a great phone call,” he said. “I was very emotional.”
It was a big week for the Americans at Whistling Straits — a 19-9 win, their largest margin of victory over Europe — and for Scheffler. He was sent out early in the third singles match to play Jon Rahm, the No. 1 player in the world.
After four holes, Scheffler had four birdies and a 4-up lead. The rout was on. To this day, Scheffler still carries the yardage book cover from that Ryder Cup.
Stricker said the final pick came down to Scheffler, Sam Burns and Patrick Reed, who had been hospitalized for five days with pneumonia during the last two qualifying events, and whose criticism of his captain and teammates after the Paris loss in 2018 didn’t help his cause
Stricker recalled being impressed when he was paired with Scheffler for the final round of the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island. He remembered how Scheffler mowed down in succession Ian Poulter, Rahm and Matt Kuchar to reach the final of the Match Play. And he asked the six automatic qualifiers to weigh in. The scales kept tilting toward Scheffler.
“It’s super cool,” Stricker said of where Scheffler was then and where he is now. “And to see him carry that yardage book cover, that tells you right there what it means to him, what it did for his confidence, the belief in himself and all that.
“Taking down Jon Rahm on Sunday, I’ve got to believe all that played a part in what he’s doing now,” he said. “We all need that moment where we get that boost of confidence.”
That seems like a lot longer than four years ago.
Scheffler, one of the ringleaders in getting the Ryder Cup team to Silverado leading up to next week’s matches at Bethpage Black on New York’s Long Island, made up an eight-shot deficit on the weekend to win for the sixth time this year.
It was a unique week with all but two of the Ryder Cup players playing in a sleepy tournament among the vineyards in September. The Procore Championship had its strongest field and biggest crowd. And then the tournament started, and it was business as usual for Scheffler.
He became only the fifth player in the last 75 years to have back-to-back seasons of at least six victories. The others were Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Sam Snead.
And while his style and approach to the game are more reminiscent of Nicklaus, the numbers allow for comparisons with Woods.
Here’s another landmark Scheffler achieved in Napa — it took him three years, seven months and one day to go from his first PGA Tour title to his 19th. That’s the shortest time in PGA Tour history (Woods took three years, seven months and 22 days).
The Ryder Cup undoubtedly played a role in this — both of them for Scheffler, good and bad.
Scheffler, who doesn’t often spend a lot of time looking back or ahead, also shared memories from the last Ryder Cup at Marco Simone. They weren’t happy ones.
Scheffler and Brooks Koepka were on the losing end of the most lopsided 18-hole match in Ryder Cup history, 9 and 7 to Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg in foursomes. Scheffler was in tears as he watched from the sidelines that afternoon.
In a rematch with Rahm in singles, Scheffler lost a 1-up lead when he chipped through the back of the green and Rahm hit a 90-foot eagle putt to within inches for birdie and the halve.
“The last Ryder Cup did not go how I anticipated it would go,” Scheffler said. “I was fired up and excited to get home and practice, and I think my results since then have proven how much work that I put into my game and to get to the point where I am now.”
He won nine times that next year, including a Masters green jacket and Olympic gold medal. Even after being sidelined two months when he punctured his hand trying to cut ravioli with a wine glass, he won two majors and four other titles this year.
What will the next Ryder Cup bring?
For Scheffler, it has always been about preparation, being able to stand on the first tee knowing he didn’t take any shortcuts in having done all that he could to be ready. That was his regret from Marco Simone, and one reason he wanted to compete ahead of Bethpage Black.
“We’re all excited to get there to Bethpage and start the tournament,” he said. “We’ve got three days to see who’s the better team and it’s going to be a good battle.”
For all the recent comparisons with Woods, this is one area Scheffler would do well to avoid.
Woods played on only one winning Ryder Cup team.
