Scottie and Jordan: A Texas-sized pairing takes two paths to a similar place at Heritage

They have so much in common, Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth do.

Dallas area, University of Texas for college, the same junior golf accolades and awards, multiple major tournament championships among their credentials.

The elder, Spieth at 30, owns an edge in career Tour wins with 13. Scheffler, 27, is not far behind with nine after his triumph in the Masters last week. They’re both among the best in the world rankings, Scheffler at 1, Spieth at 20. And their total shots-gained statistics for the year — Scheffler at 1 and Spieth at 8 — are comparable.

They’re different, too.

Spieth began his pro career like a rocket, winning the Masters, U.S. Open and Tour Championship among his five victories in 2015. His last title came two years ago here at Hilton Head, and he arrived this week with three missed cuts in his past four starts.

Scheffler turned pro in 2018 and needed four years to win in golf’s major league. He took four titles then, including the Masters, added two more in ’23 and came to Hilton Head playing like he might never lose again.

Paired together for Thursday’s first round of the RBC Heritage, they defied recent form. Spieth sizzled; Scheffler plodded along with a pedestrian start that included — yikes! — a shank.

But that didn’t last, and by round’s end, their performances pretty much mirrored recent tournaments. Despite similar scores, Scheffler looked in command of his game. Spieth, not so much.

Scheffler could be forgiven if he arrived mentally spent. Not only is he coming off his second Masters triumph — and his third win in four starts — parenthood looms with wife Meredith expecting the couple’s first child at the end of the month.

“I would have felt better if I had gotten off to a better start, but I give myself a little bit of grace there,” the world’s top-ranked player said after his round of 2-under-par 69 over the Harbour Town Golf Links. “I got pretty frustrated toward the middle of the round because I was playing good. I felt like I was hitting good putts, and my speed was maybe a touch off. I was out on some of my reads.”

After making birdie on the par-5 second hole, he made double-bogey at the third that included the shank on his bunker shot.

Not his first shank, he said, “but never in competition. . . . I tried to give myself a little bit of grace there. It clearly was just a mental lapse, and I wasn’t quite into (the round) yet.”

His frustration included missing a short birdie putt on 10 and a mud ball after an ideal tee shot on 11.

“I get up there and there’s my of my ball, and it’s like, ‘this is annoying,’ ” Scheffler said. “. . . I felt like I hit a pretty good shot, and it’s drifting left, and you can’t really miss left there. Instead of landing in the bunker, it lands on the slope and the slope shoots it 30 feet into the bunker instead of being right there where I could maybe get it up and down.

“I was obviously frustrated with that type of break, (but) then knocking the (17-foot) putt in was a nice feeling. I used it as some good momentum for the closing stretch.”

He played his final 15 holes in 3 under par, closing with birdies on 16 and 17.

So, Scheffler put his steady-wins-the-race philosophy on display and left the golf course focused on positives.

Meanwhile, Spieth would need to search for answers following is 1-under-par 70. His rip-roaring start — four consecutive birdies to stand at 4-under-par after five holes — steadily disappeared drip by drip, and he bypassed the opportunity to talk about his round.

At the start, he looked like the Jordan of 2015, who won the Masters and U.S. Open and finished one stroke out of a playoff for the Open championship title.

Spieth made birdie putts of 5, 9, 5 and 3 feet to zoom up the scoreboard and rekindle memories of his 2022 Heritage victory and his losing a playoff to Matt Fitzpatrick here a year ago.

History added to the potential story line. Two years ago, he missed the cut at the Masters and won at Hilton Head. Last week, he missed the cut at the Masters . . . and here he is 4-under-par after five holes.

Alas, the Spieth of more recent vintage took over. Not even his love for the Harbour Town course could stop the bleeding. He missed birdie chances from 11, 8 and 4 feet. A couple of opportunities to salvage par — from 8 and 5 feet — went astray, and a drive into the trees on 11 led to another bogey.

Thus, 4-under-par after five holes dwindled to one-under at round’s end, the epitome of disappointment.

Seldom have scores separated by a single stroke seemed so far apart.