Reports of Scottie Scheffler’s demise? Overblown.
Scheffler kickstarted his Open Championship defense with four front-nine birdies on Thursday at Royal Birkdale, and though he eventually gave a couple shots – and his solo lead – back, the world’s top-ranked player was pleased with an opening, 2-under 68.
“I felt like I could have gotten a little bit more out of it,” Scheffler said, “but yeah, if I continue to do what I did today with the ball-striking, I’ll be in a good spot as the week goes on.”
Scheffler lamented few offline shots on Thursday – his failed up-and-down where he chipped through the green at the par-3 seventh, his drive that found a pot bunker – his only missed fairway of the day – at the par-4 10th, and his second shot at the par-5 17th, which he flared into the native area and into a nasty, deep lie that looked like someone had stepped on his ball; Scheffler said he considered taking an unplayable before hacking out and carding his second bogey of the round.
The birdie-less, 1-over 36 coming in sapped momentum from a hot start. Scheffler didn’t have a birdie look longer than 18 feet through his first five holes. He converted three of those – 14 feet at No. 2, 7 feet at No. 3 and 5 feet at No. 5. He then added a birdie from distance, sinking a 43-footer at the par-4 sixth, which at the time gave him the solo lead.
Hello Scottie Scheffler 👀
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) July 16, 2026
The defending champion rolls in the long birdie to take the solo lead at -4 pic.twitter.com/KAscNCR5ul
Scheffler’s 68 was still good enough to sit only two strokes off the early lead shared by Sungjae Im and Dan Brown. Scheffler’s playing competitors, Bryson DeChambeau and Tyrrell Hatton, carded 67 and 69, respectively, as the marquee threesome combined for 6 under.
More importantly, following his first missed cut in nearly four years last Friday at the Genesis Scottish Open, Scheffler is feeling confident.
“Golf is played over 72 holes,” he said, “and I definitely liked what I saw today.”
