Scheffler shakes off early shank to shoot 69 at RBC

Scottie Scheffler didn’t put in his usual prep work ahead of the RBC Heritage, prioritizing his rest and recovery after a hard-fought victory at the Masters.

A shanked bunker shot on the third hole Thursday helped sharpen his focus.

Scheffler shook off a slow start to come in with a 2-under 69 to start at Harbour Town, continuing his streak of 37 consecutive rounds of par or better on Tour (dating to the final round of the 2023 Tour Championship).

Scheffler’s rare shank in competition led to a double-bogey 6, and he was 1 over par through six holes on a day when J.T. Poston was racing out to an 8-under opener.

“I tried to give myself a little bit of grace there,” Scheffler told reporters afterward. “It clearly was just a mental lapse, and I wasn’t quite into it yet. Tried to give myself a little bit of time.”

After briefly heading back home to Texas, Scheffler headed to Hilton Head Island on Tuesday and played just nine holes during the Wednesday pro-am. Starting out Thursday, he felt somewhat underprepared as he tried to adjust to the slower speed of the greens and not as mentally engaged as usual.

“I think I was maybe too settled down to start the day,” he said. “I wasn’t quite into the competition. I think maybe it was a bit of fatigue, whatever it was. But I felt like I was still getting adjusted to the golf course.”

Still, Scheffler rebounded with three birdies coming home to card yet another sub-par score.

“I feel like I had more energy now than I did at the beginning of the day waking up to go play golf,” he said. “I think getting into the tournament, hitting some shots, getting a bit frustrated, getting a bit excited about my finish there – all good emotions to feel. It’s nice to be back into tournament mode.”

Scheffler planned to spend a bit more time on the practice putting green before kicking up his feet for the remainder of the afternoon. He has a longer break before Round 2, when he is set to start with Jordan Spieth at 1:30 p.m. ET Friday.