By Phil Casey
Former champion Scottie Scheffler will have one eye on his Masters preparations as he bids to become the first player to win on three consecutive starts since 2017.
Scheffler followed his five-shot victory in the Arnold Palmer Invitational by becoming the first player ever to successfully defend the Players Championship thanks to a closing 64 at Sawgrass.
The last player to win three consecutive starts on the PGA Tour was Dustin Johnson, although Scheffler will hope the similarities will end there if he can triumph in the Texas Children’s Houston Open.
After winning the Genesis Invitational, WGC-Mexico Championship and WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play seven years ago, Johnson was a hot favourite for the upcoming Masters but injured his back in a fall at his rental home in Augusta and was forced to withdraw from the year’s first major.
“I don’t really think much about that kind of stuff,” Scheffler told a press conference when asked about his potential hat-trick.
“I had a good rest week at home last week. I was pretty worn out after Bay Hill and the Players so it was nice to get home and just relax. I didn’t do nearly as much practice as I typically would have in the last week, so coming in shaking off a little bit of rust the last couple days.
“But my game feels like it’s in a good spot, so I feel rested and ready to go this week.
“The last few years playing around this place there was a big premium on driving accuracy, which I think for a long golf course like this was really good.
“This year it’s a bit different with the overseed, they really did not put in much rough at all, which is a bit different. I think they’re probably trying to make it like Augusta so I guess that’s a good thing for prep work.”
Scheffler won his sole major title to date in the 2022 Masters, having already tasted victory three times that season before taking a week off ahead of the trip to Augusta.
The world number one will adopt a similar approach again this year while the likes of Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood and Jordan Spieth have opted to contest next week’s Valero Texas Open instead.
“I remember the year I won the Masters I won the Match Play and the year before that I had played well in the Match Play, made it to the finals,” Scheffler added.
“I ended up losing to Billy [Horschel] in the finals that week. Then I played San Antonio and I showed up to the Masters and I was completely whipped still.
“The next year, in 2022, I was still scheduled to play Austin, San Antonio and the Masters and after making it to the finals of Match Play again that year, I didn’t want to go into the Masters tired like I had the year before.
“So I guess you could say it worked. I don’t really know if that’s necessarily the secret sauce, but it was definitely nice being rested going into the Masters [in 2022] so I’ve taken the same approach in the last couple years.”