There’s one Scottie Scheffler stat that is pretty mind-blowing. This season, he averaged 5.06 birdies per round on the PGA Tour. Now, this is hardly surprising, considering Scheffler’s consistency. But that kind of result demands not only talent but plenty of breaks for his body to recover, a point Scheffler emphasized when asked about his absence from the Truist Championship.

Ahead of the Cadillac Championship, Scheffler said, “Just because you look at the demands of a regular week, a major championship is times 10. And then the tournament, you know, there’s just a lot more activity… Doing that day after day, week after week, when you do that that many times in a row, it can be challenging. In order for me to show up and play my best, I have to have off time.”

He continued, “The TOUR right now’s in a great position,” and promised he wouldn’t miss a single Tour event if he could. But agreed that “the nature of our sport and the demand on our time and everything it’s not really possible.”

The Truist Championship takes place a week before the PGA Championship. The event marks the sixth signature event of the season and the third–the RBC Heritage, the Cadillac Championship, and the Truist Championship–since the Masters.

The Zurich Classic stood as the lone non-signature event in a six-week stretch. It feeds straight into the Cadillac and Truist Championships, then the PGA Championship. Players tackling all these events face two majors and three signatures, with a potential six-week grind.

So, is this a problem? It is. Just look at Scheffler’s pattern, something which has raised questions.

Post-Masters, Scheffler competed at the RBC Heritage. Skipping one of these (Truist, in this case) as a major tune-up makes sense over playing all three, avoiding travel from Florida (Cadillac) to North Carolina (Truist) to Pennsylvania (PGA Championship). The Truist will, however, be the first signature event he will miss this season.

He has done this before. Last year, for instance, he sat out the Truist before the PGA Championship. His approach isn’t major-only, though; he treats every event seriously, like the two-week break before the 2025 FedEx St. Jude Championship.

This pattern does highlight one core issue at the PGA Tour: a stuffed schedule. Take Rory McIlroy, for example. The Cadillac Championship is the second consecutive signature event he is missing. In fact, the field lacks McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Ludvig Aberg, and Matt Fitzpatrick, some of the world’s top pros. Their absence flies in the face of signature events’ core goal: gathering golf’s elite in one spot.

Little surprise that analysts and fans are baffled by the PGA Tour’s call to cram three signature stops between two majors. Rather than drawing top talent together more frequently, the schedule is prompting calculated skips at the worst moments. Can you blame the pros for that? An increase to the 22-25 event schedule will only further this argument.

It has drawn ire from even Justin Thomas, who stated at the RBC Heritage, “Going to very difficult courses into a major I don’t think is probably how it would be drawn up for a lot of guys.”

Meanwhile, Scheffler’s motto about his game and off-time is simple: “That’s something I’ve learned as my career has gone on how important rest is for me… It’s more about doing what I can in my allotted amount of time in order to get ready and going home and getting rest so my brain and body is actually ready to compete in a tournament.”

And when he is there, he commits himself to it fully. It’s that steady hold on how he wants to continue playing this sport that has impressed one of his fellow pros.

Robert MacIntyre wants to play like Scottie Scheffler

“I watch Scottie Scheffler, and I’m like I want to play golf like Scottie Scheffler, everyone in the world wants to play golf like Scottie Scheffler,” said Robert MacIntyre post RBC Heritage win. “We shouldn’t worry about trying to win golf tournaments, just let it happen, but it looks to me that he literally does that. I’d love to get in that position, but I think once you’ve won so many times, it’s a lot easier.”

Since February 2022, Scottie Scheffler has racked up 20 PGA Tour victories, including four majors. This year alone, in eight starts, he’s notched one win, five top-5s, and eight top-25s. Scheffler’s edge lies in grinding out 69s or 70s on off days.

No one in PGA Tour history has averaged over five birdies per round; Scheffler hit that mark, as noted. In fact, over his last six seasons, he’s posted 4.7, 4.88, 4.41, 4.6, 4.39, and 4.35 birdies per round. He also tops the Tour in scoring average.

Just what not to learn from this guy?