With Rory McIlroy riding roughshod over the golf world this year, taking titles at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, The Players Championship, and The Masters, Scottie Scheffler needed a good week at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson to remind everyone he's still the top-ranked player in the world.
And he certainly accomplished just that, torching TPC Craig Ranch to notch his first victory of this 2025 campaign. This win is extra special, of course, as this is the event in which the Dallas resident made his PGA Tour debut as a 17-year-old amateur back in 2014.
Shooting 61-63-66 over the first three days, Scheffler gave himself an eight-shot advantage heading into the final round, marking the largest 54-hole lead in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event since McIlroy held the same eight-shot lead at the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional.
But Scottie had no intention of just coasting to victory, as he kept his foot firmly on the gas on Sunday, firing another 8-under 63 to finish at an absurd 31-under for the week, winning by eight over Erik van Rooyen, who took solo second with an impressive 63 of his own.
As the CBS broadcast made very clear on multiple occasions, Scheffler's score tied the lowest 72-hole total on the PGA Tour since 1983, as he made his way around TPC Craig Ranch in 253 strokes, matching Justin Thomas' total at the 2017 Sony Open in Hawaii and Ludvig Åberg's number at the 2023 RSM Classic.
But that's not really the whole story, is it?
Scottie Scheffler was several strokes short of the all-time PGA Tour scoring record in relation to par
Scoring records in golf are tricky, as they can be spread over multiple categories, which is why some on social media were questioning why CBS was so adamant that Scheffler had a chance to set a new 72-hole record with a birdie effort at the par-5 18th, which he obviously missed.
What the broadcast didn't really say was that Scottie was attempting to set the record for total strokes, not the record in relation to par.
So, in one way, yes, Scheffler did tie the record previously shared by only Thomas and Åberg. But here's how they all differ.
Thomas shot 253 at Waialae Country Club, which plays to a par of 70, thus making his winning score 27-under.
Åberg's 253 at Sea Island is unique, as the RSM is contested at both of the resort's two tracks, with one round on the par-72 Plantation Course and the other three at the par-70 Seaside Course, which puts par for the week at 282. As such, his winning score was 29-under.
Scheffler's 253, of course, was at the par-71 layout at TPC Craig Ranch, hence the 31-under total. So, again, they're not the same, are they?
And that brings us to the other aspect of Scheffler's score falling several strokes shy of the PGA Tour's 72-hole scoring record in relation to par.
That mark belongs to Hideki Matsuyama, who shot 35-under back in January at the season-opening Sentry at the Plantation Course at Kapalua, which plays to a par of 73. The Plantation Course is viewed as the easiest venue on the PGA Tour schedule, which explains why it yielded the six lowest scores in relation to par before Scheffler tied Ernie Els in the sixth spot.
- Hideki Matsuyama (-35, 2025)
- Cameron Smith (-34, 2022)
- Jon Rahm (-33, 2022)
- Collin Morikawa (-32, 2025)
- Matt Jones (-32, 2022)
- Ernie Els (-31, 2003)
So, as you can see, Scheffler needed four more birdies just to tie Matsuyama. And that's not to take away from what Scottie just accomplished, as shooting 31-under anywhere is ridiculously hard. But in the eyes of at least one golf writer, the record in relation to par is more impressive than total strokes.
Look at this way, though. At least Scheffler can say he holds the non-Kapalua record, as he did surpass Dustin Johnson's 30-under total at the 2020 Northern Trust at TPC Boston.