Weekly PGA Recap: There's an Old Sheriff in Town

This article is part of our Weekly PGA Recap series.

It was at the Byron Nelson golf tournament in 2014 that a 17-year-old Dallas resident by the name of Scottie Scheffler made his PGA Tour debut.

As a young boy, he would always come out when the tournament was in town. Named for one of the sport's all-time greats, it's not a big deal to most players anymore, but it is to Scheffler. That's why he plays it as much as any other top golfer.

How did that 17-year-old Scheffler do at the 2014 Byron Nelson? He tied for 22nd. The best Scheffler had done previously at the Nelson was a tie for fifth in 2023.

Scheffler finally won his hometown event on Sunday, with the mind-boggling score of 32-under-par to run away by eight strokes over good pal Erik van Rooyen. In the aftermath of his first victory of the 2025 season and 14th lifetime, Scheffler broke down a bit in talking about what the tournament means to him.

"When I think about this tournament," he told reporters at TPC Craig Ranch, "I think about a lot of different stuff. I grew up coming to watch it. This was my first start on the PGA Tour when I was in high school. The girl I was dating at the time is now my wife. We have one son. My sister was caddying for me at the time. She was here today. She has two kids.

"My family was all able to be here, and it was just really, really special memories, and I think at times it all comes crashing down to me at once. We have a lot of great memories as kids coming to watch this tournament. I just dreamed to be able to play in it, and it's more of a dream to be able to win it."

And what a win it was.

In going wire-to-wire beginning with an opening 10-under 61, Scheffler tied the PGA Tour's scoring record of 253 (dating to 1983), set by Justin Thomas at the 2017 Sony and matched by Ludvig Aberg at the 2023 RSM Classic.

He led the field in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green, gaining almost 17 shots. On SG: Approach, it was nearly 13 shots. He even gained around six shots on the green, ranking sixth in the field in SG: Putting.

He held an eight-shot lead going into the final round, the largest on Tour since 2011, when Rory McIlroy led the U.S. Open (and won).

Yes, Scheffler and McIlroy are mentioned in the same sentence a lot these days. As McIlroy won Pebble Beach, then THE PLAYERS, then the Masters, he kept moving closer and closer to the world No. 1 position held by Scheffler. 

Scheffler's season was delayed by hand surgery after a Christmas dinner accident as McIlroy flourished.

Now, the two are on a collision course at the PGA Championship in two weeks, but not this week's Truist Championship because Scheffler is skipping the Signature Event.

For the first time in a long time, Scheffler is not the betting favorite. Rather, he and McIlroy are currently co-favorites at the year's second major.

Now that Scheffler is fully healthy -- he wasn't exactly unhealthy, with a runner-up, third and fourth earlier this season -- the two will clash for golf supremacy at Quail Hollow.

"Rory has been playing some tremendous golf this year," Scheffler said. "The career grand slam was really special to watch. I was glad to be able to be there for it. I think any time you're getting beat, you're always fired up just a little bit extra to go out and practice.

"I feel like my game is trending in a good direction. I'm excited to start the rest of the season."

It sounds like Scheffler can't wait to get at McIlroy at the PGA.

We'll all be watching.

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Erik van Rooyen
Van Rooyen finished at 23-under, which was the winning score the two prior years. So it was an amazing week for him. He actually beat Scheffler by one shot on the weekend. This had been a terrible season for van Rooyen, who had had only one top-25 (T9 a the Cognizant). The runner-up zoomed him up the Aon Swing 5 standings into second position, getting him into this week's Signature Event, the Truist Championship.

Sam Stevens
The 28-year-old out of the Oklahoma State pipeline keeps showing signs of getting his game to the next level. His solo third-place finish wasn't even his best result of the year. Stevens was runner-up at the Farmers in January. Like van Rooyen, Stevens moved into the Aon Swing 5 and will be in this week's Truist.

Jordan Spieth
Spieth closed with a 9-under 62, his best round in four years, and tied for fourth. Maybe his game is starting to fully turn a corner after last year's wrist surgery. This was Spieth's third top-10 of the year and fourth top-20 in a row. He has moved back into the top 50 of the OWGR at No. 46. Right on the heels of McIlroy completing the career Grand Slam, Spieth will attempt to match him by winning the PGA Championship.

Sam Burns
If it seems Burns has fallen under the radar of late, it's because he had. Until ending in an eight-way tie for fifth, he had had only one top-10 all year, and it came in the very first week. Burns also tied for 13th at the RBC Heritage his previous time out, so perhaps he is starting to show some form.

Mark Hubbard
Hubbard started the season with a pair of top-20s, then went into a tailspin. Now, in his last two events, he has his two best showings of the year. He tied for 12th at Puntacana and now added a share of fifth. That follows a stretch of six missed cuts in seven starts.

Eric Cole
Cole quietly has rung up top-25s in four of his past five starts, and the one miss was a tie for 26th. He was part of the logjam in fifth place. Yet there are still major concerns, as he is losing strokes tee to green and off the tee.

Si Woo Kim
Kim is quietly putting together a decent season. He tied for 15th, giving him six top-25s in 2025. Last time out, he tied for eighth at the RBC Heritage, at which he entered the final round with the lead before fading. Kim is ranked 19th on Tour in sG: Tee-to-Green.

Davis Riley
Riley tied for 45th. That's not the story. The story is that he assessed himself a two-stroke penalty for using the slope feature on his rangefinder -- golfers are allowed to use the device only for measuring distance -- then needed a final-hole eagle on Friday to make the cut. He made it.

MISSED CUTS

Tom Kim, Ben Griffin, Taylor Pendrith, Ryan Gerard. When the field is so weak, there aren't many big-name cuts simply because there aren't many big names. But Kim surely qualifies, as his season continues to plummet. … Griffin MCed the week after winning the Zurich, a natural letdown. But he finished inside the Aon Next 10, so he'll be at the Truist this week. … Pendrith was the defending champion. … Gerard had a good stretch going and there's no reason to think it can't resume again.

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