Scotty Scheffler will enter the Memorial Tournament as the defending champion, but he doesn’t feel overconfident as he prepares for Thursday’s opening round in Dublin, Ohio.
“When you perform at an event, everyone is evenly featured,” Schaeffler told reporters Wednesday. “People ask, I feel like a lot, ‘How about keeping this week?’ I say, ‘Wouldn’t it do anything for me?’
Schaeffler, 28, is in the middle of another incredible season. In the 11 tournaments, he won two wins and finished eight top 10.
In his past six tournaments, he won the CJ Cup Byron Nelson and the PGA Championship, finishing T2 at the Texas Stildons Houston Open, finishing fourth in the Masters Tournament, and T4 at the Charles Schwab Challenge last week, and T8 at the RBC last month.
Founded by Jack Nicklaus at his Muirfield Village Golf Club, this monument is Schaeffler’s third consecutive weekly tournament. He said “I’m resting well.”
“For my three weeks in a row, I started out with some rest. Last week, after a good rest on Monday and Tuesday, I got off to a good start at Colonial, then I got off to a good break, come here, played nine holes yesterday and nine holes this morning, so I was ready for the week.”
And he said, like all events, he doesn’t have the pre-determined concept that he wins. Last year he topped Colin Morakawa with one stroke and finished with an 8-under par to win the monument.
“If your game shows up with too low expectations without feeling like you’re in a good place, you probably won’t hit a lot of good shots,” he said. “And I think if you look too good about yourself, it can affect your focus. You just show up and say, ‘Oh, I’m the best. I’m just going to just show up and win,’ I think you need to be very focused on what you’re doing.
Despite the Field heading towards a $20 million signature event, Schaeffler was asked to follow the tour championship in September. The PGA Tour announced on Tuesday that it has abolished the Stigger Scoring Start, which rewards leaders with head start scores for the FedEx Cup leaders – changes proposed by Schaeffler.
“When I’m watching a golf tournament, I think the best way to identify the best players in the course of the tournament is to play 72 holes strokes on a really good golf course. When I watched a good test of golf and competed in four days, I think it’s the best way to crown the best winner of the week.
“And then, seeing the tour championship, I didn’t like the previous starting stroke format and I really like the direction we go. I think it’s difficult to qualify for a tour championship. Making a tour championship will be a great result of work during the season.
Schaeffler won his first tour championship last season.