For the second Friday in a row, Scottie Scheffeler finds himself near the top of a PGA Tour leaderboard.
After sharing the lead through two rounds last week at the Greenbrier, Scheffler at 10 under par sits two off the pace set by Ben An heading into the weekend at the Sanderson Farms Championship.
A college standout while at the University of Texas, the 23-year-old now finds himself a fully exempt rookie on the PGA Tour following a pair of wins earlier this year on the Korn Ferry Tour. Scheffler topped that circuit’s Finals and overall points list to secure his priority status.
Coming off a tie for seventh last week in West Virginia in his first official start as a member, Scheffler hopes to prove a quick study when it comes to contending on Tour.
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“Yeah, it’s always nice getting that experience.” he said. “I played in the last group on Saturday last week. Didn’t have my best stuff on the weekend, but it was definitely good experience. Hung in there pretty well to finish top 10, so it was still a solid week overall.”
His best stuff is pretty good — he signed for 62 in the second round last week — and so too, apparently, is his less-than-best. Scheffler opened with five birdies and a bogey in his first six holes Friday en route to a 66. He then said after the round that his “swing didn’t feel too great today,” but that he “got it around.”
In his last four starts, from the start of the Korn Ferry Finals though last week’s PGA Tour opener, Scheffler has finished first, T-11, T-7, T-7.
Technically, it’s a fresh start, a new campaign on a new tour, but the former Longhorn is picking up right where he left off.
“Yeah, it’s fun being out here,” he said. “Game feels like it’s in good shape, so it’s nice getting off to a good start to the season.
“It’s still very early — only six rounds in. I’m in good position this weekend; see what happens.”