A 50% driving accuracy in the first two rounds of the PLAYERS Championship didn’t do Scottie Scheffler any favors. In fact, he nearly missed the cut at TPC Sawgrass this year. It was very unlike him to perform so poorly with the driver, which compelled Brandel Chamblee to point it out as a weakness in his game this year. But after a strong show on Saturday, Scheffler has proven the expert wrong.

“I was a little sharper today than I was the first two days,” Scheffler told the reporters in the post-round presser. He added, “I felt like I was swinging it better each day of the tournament. Today, I hit a few more fairways and was able to give myself a few more looks for birdie.”

The world #1 was truly spectacular off the tee in the third round. His driving accuracy was 78.57%. That brought his average for three rounds up to 59.52%. As he was positioned better on the fairway, Scheffler was able to avoid making any errors throughout the round. He scored five birdies and no bogeys to manage a 5-under par.

When questioned if he found his rhythm on the range last evening, he stated, “Did I find anything? I think that would imply that I was lost, which is not the case. No, I think I’m always just trying to get a feel for where things are at, and sometimes a little practice helps, and sometimes a little rest helps.”

“I mean, I’m always just trying to get a feel for where my swing’s at. Whenever I can feel the clubhead, I’m in a pretty good spot. If you ever see us practicing, that’s typically what I’m trying to — if I’m searching for something, that would be kind of what I’m searching for is the feel for the clubhead, and so that way I’m kind of able to see and create shots.”

Scheffler had been testing a couple of different TaylorMade drivers in the last few events. That had resulted in a few poor results. Naturally, it affected his swing because he couldn’t anticipate the outcome. That’s exactly what Chamblee criticized him about, suggesting that he doesn’t recognize the world #1’s swing anymore.

However, Scheffler has proven him wrong after his incredible third-round performance at TPC Sawgrass. But he would still want to improve his position in The PLAYERS Championship on Championship Sunday.

Scottie Scheffler might still not be happy

A 5-under 67 is an excellent score in the third round. But Scottie Scheffler had already put himself in an extremely disadvantageous position after he scored a 1-over par in the first two days. So winning was never his goal going into the third round or on Sunday.

“When I look at tournaments, I’m not thinking about winning, I’m thinking about approaching things the right way. I did my best to stay committed, and I did a good job, I think, of keeping the right attitude and keeping my head on straight to grind out a couple of rounds that were difficult,” Scheffler told the reporters about his expectations going forward.

He is sitting at T25 on the leaderboard with the third round still going on. With 18 more holes to play, Scheffler can push for a top-10 finish on Sunday. He will be only a few strokes away from the position, and it might be a realistic target to achieve. Now that he has his swing back, it won’t be hard to imagine the world #1 going for it.