Charlotte (AFP) – World number one Scottie Scheffler is thrilled to be playing the first two rounds of the PGA Championship with defending champion Xander Schauffele and reigning Masters champion Rory McIlroy, expecting a memorable time. Scheffler, a two-time Masters winner who only won his first title of the year two weeks ago after a right hand injury, starts off the 10th tee at 8:22 a.m. (1222 GMT) Thursday with second-ranked McIlroy and third-ranked Schauffele, reigning British Open and PGA champion.
“I’m playing with two guys that are playing some of the best golf in the world,” Scheffler said. “Xander won two majors last year and Rory already won the Players and the Masters this year, so he’s playing some fantastic golf. It should be a lot of fun. I’ve seen that pairing before and we have a good time out there, and it’s competitive. When I look back on my career, these will be some of the fondest memories getting to play with some of the best players in the world and compete to try to win tournaments.”
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The 1-2-3 group puts Scheffler with McIlroy, on whose shoulders he put the Masters green jacket last month after the Northern Ireland won to complete a long-sought career Grand Slam. “Rory has been off to a great start this year and he has definitely improved and made some changes in his game from last year,” Scheffler said.
– Positive momentum –
“There’s always little things I’m trying to do to get better and I think that’s why we keep coming back. Golf is kind of an endless pursuit of getting the best out of yourself and I’m looking forward to continuing to do that as the year goes on.”
McIlroy, however, didn’t spark any career Slam hunger in Scheffler, who takes pride in staying in the moment. “I don’t really set those types of goals for myself,” Scheffler said. “I have some dreams and aspirations that I think about, but I’ve always been at my best when I stay in the present. That’s what works really well for me.” He was happy to see McIlroy’s magical moment, saying, “It takes a lifetime of work to be able to even have a chance to win major championships, let alone win all four of them, so it was pretty cool to see.”
Scheffler won nine times last year, including Paris Olympic gold and the Tour Championship, but suffered a right hand injury preparing Christmas dinner that kept him sidelined for the first month of this season and only took his first title of 2025 two weeks ago at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. “I definitely started off the year a bit more challenging than I would have expected just because of the injury,” he said. “Was it more difficult than I thought? I don’t think so. I knew it wasn’t going to be super easy, but at the end of the day, stuff happens. Life happens … It’s just one of those deals that happens in life.”
Adding to his momentum is his win two weeks ago in Texas. He matched the PGA Tour’s record low 72-hole stroke total of 253 in taking the Byron Nelson at 31-under par. “It would be silly to say that I can’t ride the positive momentum from a good week like that. I played some really nice golf,” Scheffler said. “It was nice to see some results from a lot of hard work to start the year and I feel like my game is in a good spot.”
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