Scottie Scheffler (file photo) is within striking distance after the first round of the Scottish Open. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images An opening eagle temporarily elevated expectations for Scottie Scheffler’s first round at the Scottish Open on Thursday before windy reality came around the corner to keep the world No. 1 grounded.
Scheffler shot an opening-round 67, three off the lead when he signed his scorecard at The Renaissance Club in North Berwick, Scotland. He was part of a marquee group with defending champion Robert MacIntyre and Adam Scott. Scott, who finished as runner-up to MacIntyre in 2024, shot 69 and was 1-under with MacIntyre a stroke better.
The even-keeled Scheffler rated his first round as “not too bad” considering the conditions, but he will hit the pillow thinking about why he was unable to get “a little bit more out of” Round 1.
“It definitely got a bit breezy out there at times — not like it can really blow here but there’s definitely a breeze. That’s something that’s got to be factored in on pretty much every shot,” Scheffler said. “It was a good amount of wind to play on this course. It makes the course play really nice where you get rewarded for hitting high-quality shots and you get punished for hitting some poor ones.”
Starting his round on the 600-yard, par-5 10th, Scheffler striped his drive 352 yards down the center of the fairway and rolled his second shot from the front of the green, past the hole to leave a lengthy eagle try that found the bottom of the cup.
Scheffler said MacIntyre, the local favorite, long has been a preferred playing partner. That’s doubly true in links golf, where MacIntyre’s background and experience on these tracks provides consistent guidance.
“He’s a great guy. Fun to watch him play some links golf. Feel like I learn some stuff from him out there,” Scheffler said.
MacIntyre’s round started with misadventure on his third hole, the 12th, when marshals declared his ball was out of bounds. But MacIntyre felt otherwise and continued his search, ultimately discovering his ball was four feet inside any OB markers.
“Thankfully I didn’t listen to the marshals,” he said. “Managed to find it a yard and a half inbounds, got the drop and made bogey. From there on, it was get back to the basics. Make sure we played a lot more the with wind because the ball is getting affected so much more here than it has been the last couple of months. But overall happy with that.”
–Field Level Media
