(Photo credit score: Dennis Schneidler-Imagn Images)
Scottie Scheffler steered away from wine glasses when serving to with Christmas dinner this yr.
That joke was absolutely going across the PGA West resort in La Quinta, Calif., because the No. 1 participant on the planet arrived for The American Express, his 2026 PGA Tour season debut.
Scheffler’s 2025 season bought off to a delayed begin after he injured his hand on Christmas 2024, when a wine glass shattered whereas he was utilizing it to form ravioli for dinner. Among different tournaments, he missed The American Express within the Palm Desert area of California.
When you are on a protracted scorching streak like Scheffler has been since 2022, you needn’t make many adjustments to your strategy. Speaking with reporters Tuesday, Scheffler mentioned he handled his offseason the identical as common.
‘I had just a few further weeks off this yr, and happily it wasn’t as a consequence of harm, simply the beginning of the yr began a bit bit later for me,’ Scheffler mentioned. ‘Overall, no, issues I might say had been fairly related for me within the offseason.’
This time, his season is beginning later due to how the PGA calendar labored out.
The regular season opener, The Sentry, was cancelled as a consequence of drought circumstances on Maui. So Scheffler did not fly to Hawaii, skipping final week’s Sony Open in Honolulu in favor of the California swing.
It beats his hometown of Dallas, which has snow within the forecast this week.
‘I noticed it’ll snow in Dallas this week, so undoubtedly glad to be right here sporting shorts and a shirt,’ Scheffler mentioned. ‘… I feel the event’s rather well run. I feel they do a very good job of taking good care of us. It’s a pleasant week for my household and me to take pleasure in some good climate, and play some aggressive golf, and form of get a gauge of the place I’m at to start out the yr.’
When the PGA Tour final noticed Scheffler, he was on one other unbelievable streak of success, ending within the high 10 in his last 15 begins of the 2025 season with six wins, together with two majors. He additionally tied for fourth at Tiger Woods’ Hero World Challenge, an unofficial occasion, in December.
After a while off, Scheffler is keen to see the place his sport stands, however do not mistake that for enjoying his approach into form.
‘I undoubtedly do not present as much as tournaments attempting to get my sport into form,’ he mentioned. ‘I wish to be ready, and that is one thing that I satisfaction myself on. So I wish to say that is a very good gauge, simply because it is totally different being in competitors I feel than working towards at house. You can do your finest to simulate it, however I do not suppose there’s something like popping out right here and enjoying and posting a 72-hole rating.
‘Tournament golf’s all the time only a bit totally different. You can put together as onerous as you possibly can, however typically you do should shake off a bit little bit of aggressive rust simply from an prolonged break.’
–Field Level Media