Scottie Scheffler is back to throwing temper tantrums at TPC Scottsdale. Unlike last time at the 2025 WM Phoenix Open, when he whacked his golf bag with his club, this time around, he nearly broke his club in half after a poor wedge shot.

The ESPN+ broadcast caught the moment when Scheffler could not hold his composure after his poorly judged chip on the 18th didn’t climb the green enough. The ball rolled back close to where he originally hit it from as he aggressively patted the club on his lap as if trying to split it in two. Golf is hard, even for the No. 1 player in the world.

Sitting at 2-under par after starting on the back nine, he had already hit a poor approach shot from 114 yards. Despite landing close to the hole, his ball had rolled off the green, 9 yards away from the hole. Scheffler could have still managed a par if he had hit a good wedge shot. However, the roll-back incident occurred on the third stroke, causing him a lot of frustration. He ended up scoring a bogey on the hole to go 1-under for the day.

That moment summed up what many around TPC Scottsdale were already calling an “uncharacteristic” round from the world No. 1. Scheffler, who arrived in Arizona fresh off a season-opening win at The American Express and as the overwhelming betting favorite, opened with a 2-over 73, a card that included five bogeys and a double against five birdies.

He had started brightly with a birdie on the par-4 10th, but trouble followed almost immediately on the 11th, where he pulled his tee shot into the water, a miss he had practically warned about earlier in the week when he admitted the hole’s fairway “plays extremely small.” From there, his typically elite approach play leaked strokes, and his usually reliable short game completely deserted him, as he lost more than two strokes to the field around the greens.

While Scheffler remains composed even in the worst of moments, there are times when the World No. 1 can’t help but let his frustration out. Consider the case of the 2025 RBC Heritage.

His drive on the 8th hole hit some of the branches of an overhanging tree and veered off to the bunker. While walking to the fairway, he was going to hand the club to caddie Ted Scott. However, he backed off, snatched it back from Scott’s hand, and slammed it into the rough.

Once again at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, anger got the better of the World No. 1. This time it happened on a greenside bunker on the par-4 10th. After his recovery shot raced past the hole to the collar of the green, Scottie Scheffler rammed his wedge multiple times on the sand. He went to make a birdie on the very next hole, but wasn’t as lucky this time around.

After the 18th hole meltdown, Scheffler succumbed to another bogey on the 1st (his 9th of the day) and then a double on the 2nd. That double came after his tee shot settled awkwardly near the lip of a fairway bunker, forcing a pitch out before a mishit approach from the rough still failed to find the green, a messy sequence that dropped him firmly over par for good.

As the day ended, Scheffler finished 2 over par, with five bogeys and a double against five birdies, making it his worst round since last June. From a strokes-gained standpoint, it was his poorest performance since the 2023 Tour Championship, a rare statistical stumble for a player whose dominance has felt routine.

That also ends his streak of 33 consecutive rounds under par. The leader, Chris Gotterup, shot 8 under par, and as a result, Scheffler is 10+ strokes behind the leader for the first time since the 2021 Valero Texas Open. Despite being a two-time winner at TPC Scottsdale and entering the week riding the PGA Tour’s longest active cut streak, Scheffler suddenly found himself in damage-control mode just to make the weekend.

In another rare instance, the Texas native also chose to avoid the media after the round. Rather than stopping for interviews as he usually does in Scottsdale, Scheffler signed his scorecard and headed straight across the bridge toward the practice facilities.

That also ends his streak of 33 consecutive rounds under par. The leader, Chris Gotterup, shot 8 under par, and as a result, Scheffler is 10+ strokes behind the leader for the first time since the 2021 Valero Texas Open. In another rare instance, the Texas native also chose to avoid the media after the round.

Nevertheless, Scheffler’s strong reaction caught the fans by surprise — though the Phoenix Open crowd is known for amplifying every moment.

That atmosphere was on full display at the famous par-3 16th hole, where towering grandstands turn each shot into a public performance. Scheffler hit the green but left himself 38 feet for birdie, a perfectly respectable result by normal standards, yet one that drew boos from the packed stadium. When his birdie putt rolled nine feet short, the crowd let him hear it again, treating the miss as part of the hole’s theatre rather than true criticism. Scheffler calmly poured in the par and moved on.

But they also found it quite relatable.

Netizens left amused by Scottie Scheffler’s crashout

Not every day do you see Scottie Scheffler crashing out like this. However, it has occurred quite frequently since 2025.

Still, one of the fans found the situation quite hilarious, as they commented, “What was that crash out 🤣?”

They must have gotten used to Scheffler’s tantrums by now. Many fans witnessed him lose his cool at TPC Southwind when a bunker shot went haywire.

Another fan could relate to the frustration of the world #1 as they wrote, “Kinda warms my heart; he’s human. I’ll remember the next time I chili dip from just off the green.”

Scheffler has been on an outstanding run for quite some time now. He has finished in the top 8 on the PGA Tour 17 consecutive times. A few temper tantrums in between is how the fans can connect with him as well.

However, one fan called him “washed,” and another joked, “Yet he claims that he doesn’t really care because ‘gOd’ 🤪.”

In an interview on The Sweet Spot Podcast, Ted Scott admitted Scheffler was a “mental giant” and had faith in God. Unfortunately, neither came to his rescue at TPC Scottsdale, as he was left at the mercy of the fans’ taunts.

Someone also suggested, “Jack Nicklaus has often said that one of the simplest but most valuable things he learned from Arnold Palmer was this idea about shots just off the green: If you can putt it, putt it.”

Considering the position that he was in, Scheffler could have certainly taken Jack Nicklaus & Arnold Palmer‘s advice and played conservatively. A chip certainly didn’t work to his advantage.

For a player who had made just four bogeys across four rounds in his previous start and came into Phoenix having won 27-under par, the contrast was jarring. What looked like another routine week of dominance quickly turned into a reminder that even the steadiest force in golf can unravel when his precision deserts him.

But the season has only begun, and Scheffler is playing just his second tournament of 2026. Uncharacteristic? Absolutely. Terminal? That would be the real shock.