W
hen playing conditions are tough and the spotlight is bright, Scottie Scheffler always seems to play his best. The Dallas native and former Texas Junior Golf Alliance standout twice made the cut in U.S. Opens as an amateur, for example. He won Low Amateur honors at Erin Hills in the 2017 U.S. Open. Scheffler also won the U.S. Junior Amateur in 2013 and became only the second player to advance to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur as the reigning U.S. Junior champ.
To say Scheffler was a dominant force in junior golf would be an understatement. From 2004-10, he won nearly 60% of his starts on the Northern Texas PGA Junior Tour for a staggering total of 74 victories. At age 14, Scheffler made the cut at the 101st Texas Amateur in 2010 despite not yet possessing the length to reach a handful of par 4s in two shots.
In college at Texas, he helped the Longhorns advance to the match play finals of the NCAA Championship three times. Along the way he racked up tons of individual awards, such as Freshman of the Year, All-American, Big 12 Scholar Athlete of the Year and Ben Hogan Award finalist.
After he turned pro in late 2018, he spent one season on the Korn Ferry Tour. He won twice and was named the 2019 Player of the Year. In 2020, he was the PGA Tour’s Rookie of the Year. Like Zalatoris, Scheffler has been in contention for PGA Tour victories on several occasions, including the 2020 PGA Championship. It’s only a matter of time before he starts winning at the highest level. It’s what he’s always done.