Scottie Scheffler’s first swing of the first round of the RBC Heritage went wide right and out of bounds.
The 2024 winner at Harbour Town Golf Links took a penalty stroke, re-teed and then riffled his next drive down the fairway. He then hit his approach shot inside 12 feet and made the putt to salvage bogey.
“It was looking like it was going to hit those trees and I guess it flew right through them and then hit path and went out of bounds,” he told reporters after the round. “Thumbs up for the start. It was a good bogey.”
It would be one of just two bogeys for the world’s top-ranked player who finished with a 3-under 68 and sits T-20 after 18 holes in the South Carolina Lowcountry.
Scheffler bounced back from the sluggish start at the par-4 first hole, with three birdies over his next five.
“When it comes to on-the-course stuff, my practice going into this week is typically a bit lighter, just coming off the high of the Masters,” said Scheffler when asked if his pre-tournament preparation had been thrown off at all after Augusta. “Especially when you’re in contention, it takes a lot out of you mentally.”
Ludvig Åberg leads in Hilton Head after posting a bogey-free, 8-under 63. He was runner-up to Scheffler at the 2024 Masters.
“I felt like I was playing well but made some silly mistakes that prevented me from having a real chance,” Åberg said. “But I also felt like in the grand scheme of things, I was swinging it nice, I was moving it nice, so I didn’t have to prepare that much in terms of my golf swing on Monday through Wednesday, and I felt like good golf was in there.”
Scheffler is in search of his second win of the year and his first since his season debut at The American Express.
He tees off with Matt Fitzpatrick at 10:05 a.m. ET on Friday.