Given how curious last week was for Scottie Scheffler, the reigning Open Championship winner is deservedly happy with his position after the opening round at a baked out Royal Birkdale.<\/p>\n
The world No. 1, who is looking to become the first golfer in almost 20 years to go back-to-back at the Open, shot a 2-under 68 on Thursday and is just three shots back of first-round leader Jackson Suber, who is making his debut at this major. <\/p>\n
Scheffler had an incredible start, going 4 under for his first six holes before making bogey on No. 7 after failing to get up-and-down. Scheffler stalled the rest of the way before hitting his approach on the penultimate hole off line and, he believed, becoming the victim of someone stepping on his ball.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m hoping somebody stepped on it, but nobody would fess up,\u201d Scheffler said. \u201cIt was just one of those things. I was just shocked at how deep the ball was in that grass. It looked like a lot of good spots around there, and then all of a sudden, you get to one area where my ball is \u2014 I considered actually taking an unplayable.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust one of those deals; sometimes you hit it over there and you get a clean lie and you’re able to give yourself a look, and then other times like today, you pay a pretty severe price.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scheffler came into the week having missed his first cut in four years at the Genesis Scottish Open. He\u2019s had a tidy campaign on the PGA Tour so far, but has just one win. Two of his four runner-up results so far this year have come as he\u2019s fallen short in playoffs. But Scheffler was up to his old tricks \u2014 early, at least \u2014 at Royal Birkdale.<\/p>\n
He was second in strokes gained: off the tee for the day but was pedestrian otherwise, struggling with the putter overall. Still, Scheffler said he feels confident with how his game is tightening up at the final major of the year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt like I could have gotten a little bit more out of (my round), but yeah, if I continue to do what I did today with the ball-striking, I’ll be in a good spot as the week goes on,\u201d Scheffler said.<\/p>\n
You certainly cannot count Scheffler out as he is one of only four golfers inside the top 25 on the leaderboard who has won a major. Two of them \u2014 Francesco Molinari and Henrik Stenson \u2014 are not even playing full schedules anymore.<\/p>\n
And, as Scheffler sits just three shots back, he is looking to continue a trend that is set to work in his favour \u2014 all of the last 26 Open Championship winners have been within five shots of the lead after the opening round.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny time you can shoot under par to start a major championship, it’s a good spot to be in,\u201d Scheffler said. \u201cI got off to a hot start in the round today and wasn’t able to make as many birdies as I would have hoped to down the stretch. I played the par-5s in over par. My only other bogey today was a wedge on 7, so those are a little disappointing.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I continue to strike the ball the way I did today and just keep giving myself looks, that’s part of it. Golf is played over 72 holes, and I definitely liked what I saw today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Amongst those that are tied with Scheffler, and firmly in the mix after 18 holes, is Canadian Nick Taylor.<\/p>\n
Taylor had the best start of anyone Thursday, making birdie on his first three holes of the day. Taylor stumbled a little bit coming home \u2014 making bogeys on Nos. 15 and 16 \u2014 but made a rare birdie on his closing hole. The par-4 18th was playing as the second toughest on the day.<\/p>\n
Taylor sits tied for 13th heading into Friday\u2019s second round.<\/p>\n
Fellow Canadian Corey Conners had a straightforward enough day, on the scorecard at least, making 17 pars and one bogey. He sits tied for 60th.<\/p>\n