Scottie Scheffler seriously battled his swing on day one of The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass on Thursday.
Scheffler drove the ball terribly on day one of The Players, and that is no exaggeration.
The 29-year-old world number one was all over the place off the tee at TPC Sawgrass and his iron play wasn’t much better.
However, Scheffler still managed to shoot a round of even-par 72 on Thursday at The Players Championship, and that is a sign of his strong mentality and his impressive ability to grind when the going gets tough.
The man from Dallas, Texas, has won twice before around Sawgrass, so he clearly has the game needed to succeed around Pete Dye’s masterpiece.
If he is to win The Players Championship for a third time, though, he will need to sharpen up his driving urgently.
Scheffler used his old Qi10 driver on day one of The Players, and he really struggled off the tee.
Scottie Scheffler reveals what caused his disastrous driving at The Players
It’s no exaggeration to say that Scheffler’s driving of the golf ball on Thursday at Sawgrass was abysmal.
The 29-year-old was ranked 68th in strokes gained off the tee.
He was missing the majority of his shots so far out to the right due to the fact that his club was getting stuck behind him on his downswing, and his hands couldn’t catch up.
After the world number one’s first round, he spoke about his game and responded when asked by reporters what the issue with his driver actually was.
“Yeah, it just kept going right,” Scheffler admitted.
“Hit some better ones on the back, but overall, yeah, just got to be a little sharper.
“I would argue that the only thing I did all that great today was putt. So no, I think sometimes it’s just the — that’s always the last bit when you make bogey. There’s always hope until the putt misses for par.
“I hit some important tee shots well. You think of the tee shot I hit on 18; 1 is an important tee shot; 2.
Hit a lot more fairways and struck it better on the back nine. Just like I said, made a few mental errors and just need to be a little bit sharper the next few days.
“I’ve seen some improvements in the new driver; like my spin is much more consistent. It’s actually a touch faster than my driver. But the way I play, I always hit so many different types of shots and the one last week felt like it was going a little left on me, and when I want to hit my peeler a lot of times I would hit it out of the middle of the face it would start drawing on me.
“So I think that’s a little bit today why the ball started going right way.
“You look at a hole like 14, 7, 16, you can’t really miss left. I don’t think I had enough trust in what the driver head was doing compared to where I was last week. I think it can be tough sometimes to kind of block that stuff out.
“But I have seen some improvements in the new driver, it’s just I haven’t been able to trust it in all the different shots that I hit, especially off the tee.“
Scottie Scheffler says if he will switch drivers at The Players
Scheffler seemed to take it as an affront when a journalist asked him if he plans to switch out his old driver for the newer model on day two at Sawgrass.
“Yeah, it’s done pretty good the last few years,” Scheffler insisted.
“I don’t know what you think my results have been with the ball-striking, but it’s a driver I’ve used since 2024 and 2025.
“Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about. Yeah, it’s a pretty good driver.“
Scheffler is right. The majority of his wins and three of his four major championships have come with the Qi10 in the bag.
The four-time major champion has been the best driver of the golf ball statistically over the past two years on the PGA Tour.
He’s obviously going through a tough time right now with the longest club in the bag, but it surely won’t be long before he turns things around.
However, if Scheffler is to win The Players this year, he will need to drive the ball a lot better during the final three rounds.
