Joel Dahmen doesn’t play with Scottie Scheffler that very often. The limited field Signature event sort of put a bar on Dahmen’s entry. The one-time PGA Tour winner misses his ‘chatty’ friend, though, and he still likes to ‘give him crap all the time on the greens.’ Dahmen, himself, hasn’t had his greatest season on the greens. 

Only one top-ten this year certainly is not at par with Dahmen’s caliber. And this is where Scheffler’s genius becomes more apparent. As Dahmen said in the Golf’s Subpar podcast it’s not very hard to hit a ball in the rough or just flush it into the water. It’s not very hard at all to card 37 or 38 on the front or back nine. But Scheffler avoids that altogether on most days. 

Scheffler ranks 2nd in bogey avoidance this year, behind Xander Schauffele. Joel Dahmen dubbed it the ‘best season since the Tiger [Woods] era,’ which most likely won’t be debated. The 37-year-old went on to add, “The competition is so deep now and the courses he’s doing on… He’s playing the best of the hardest courses every week.” 

Scottie Scheffler comes out on the greens, be it the Masters or the Hero World Challenge, he is on his ruthless self. Dahmen, as a PGA Tour pro himself, knows how hard that is. After this season ended, he went to Hilsburg, and then to Vegas. Dahmen has also spent some time on TPI, fine-tuning his chipping. Scheffler, meanwhile, arrived at the Bahamas and walked with a victory by six strokes. Dahmen explained, “It’s obviously a testament to how good he is, but it’s a testament to his mind.”

The World No.1 was asked about it. His response was short and as Scheffler-like as you can think. He treats every week the same. Masters, US Open, or Valero Texas Open, the name, the purse, and the field make no difference to him. “How do you do that!” a baffled Joel Dahmen exclaimed in the podcast. The answer is anyone’s guess. Scheffler is a mental beast who likes to win every tournament he plays.

Scottie Scheffler’s mind is a fortress

Joel Dahmen’s question would perhaps be better answered by Scheffler’s caddie, Ted Scott. He has seen him up close and knows how fiercely competitive his boss is. The Dallas resident is as competitive in a ‘friendly’ ping pong match or a water polo match as he is on the greens at Augusta National. Scott knows he can bounce off ideas with Scheffler. And even if one of them is wrong, and his client is in a tough spot, Scheffler is strong enough to bounce back.

“When you are working for a guy like Scottie Scheffler, it’s like literally the best strategy – the logical strategy – is you can talk to him about anything because he is so tough mentally. I mean, he is a mental giant,” Scott said a few weeks back in a podcast. If there is any secret sauce to Scheffler’s success, it’s his mind. Just like another world no.1 in golf whose event he won a few days ago.