Scottie Scheffler‘s opening round at TPC Scottsdale ended three separate streaks that had come to define his dominance. The #1 posted a 2-over 73, consisting of five bogeys and a double against five birdies on February 5, 2026, his worst score in 23 career rounds at a venue where he has won twice and shot rounds in the 60s 17 times across his previous 22 starts.

Golf statistician Rick Gehman noted on X that the round snapped a 33-round streak of par-or-better golf stretching back to June 2025, ending 32 consecutive opening rounds in which Scheffler gained strokes on the field. This marked his worst strokes-gained performance in 50 starts dating back to the 2023 Tour Championship.

Scheffler entered this week as the overwhelming betting favorite after winning his 20th Tour title, The American Express, to open his 2026 season, carrying 17 consecutive top-eight finishes into the desert. Even his T25 at the Phoenix Open last year, his worst result of 2025, had done little to temper expectations. The man who has led the PGA Tour in Strokes Gained: Approach for three consecutive seasons lost 0.722 strokes with his irons on Thursday and ranked 72nd for the day.

Scheffler began on the back nine and opened with a birdie on No. 10, but his round quickly turned on the par-4 11th. Surprisingly, this was the hole he had found easy earlier in the week.

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“The tee shot is easily the hardest on the golf course,” Scheffler said Wednesday. “The fairway from the tee box looks wide, but it plays extremely small. … If you hit up the left center of the fairway, the ball is pretty much going to go in the water.”

His drive did exactly that as his ball found the penalty area. This led to his first bogey of the day. Then, on his ninth hole of the day, the par-4 18th, Scheffler missed the green from 114 yards and then watched his wedge shot tumble back toward his feet as he bent the club against his knee in visible frustration, a moment the ESPN+ broadcast caught in full. The same sequence was repeated on the 8th hole, with muttering replacing the physical reaction. TPC Scottsdale has now witnessed Scheffler’s composure crack in consecutive years.

In 2025, he drove through his golf bag and split open his water bottle at the same venue. Fans had also witnessed him lose his cool at TPC Southwind when a bunker shot went haywire, as prior coverage noted. The pattern has surfaced more frequently since 2025, and Thursday added another entry.

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The PGA Tour reported that Scheffler declined to speak with the media following the round, heading directly to the practice facilities. A silent exit that stood in sharp contrast to his Wednesday availability, where he had joked about “cooking with plastic silverware” to avoid another hand injury.

His 65 consecutive made-cut streak, the longest active on the PGA Tour after Xander Schauffele‘s slip at the Farmers Insurance Open, now faces an immediate threat with Scheffler sitting tied for 96th entering Friday, 10 shots behind the leader, Chris Gotterup.

Chris Gotterup’s rise validates the pressure facing Scottie Scheffler

Rising Chris Gotterup fired an 8-under 63 while playing alongside Scheffler and Jordan Spieth, taking a two-shot clubhouse lead over Matt Fitzpatrick. Gotterup’s round consisted of six birdies and an eagle on the par-5 13th. He won the 2026 Sony Open to start his season and, a week later, finished T18 at the Farmers Insurance Open.

Golf researcher Justin Ray highlighted on X that the 10-stroke gap between playing partners marked the first time Scheffler had been beaten by that margin since Round 2 of the 2021 Valero Texas Open, when Rickie Fowler shot 68 to his 78.

CBS broadcaster Jim Nantz had labeled Gotterup a “serious threat” to PGA Tour players. He is now paired in featured groups alongside established stars for the Friday round and offered a glimpse into the mindset driving the Tour’s emerging tier.

“When you’re coming off the Korn Ferry Tour, you’re in the back of the bus and finishing oftentimes on Saturday mornings,” Gotterup said. “It’s hard to get adjusted, but I feel like I played well and kind of worked my way up the ladder a little bit. I think the thing about the TOUR is it never stops. Someone is going to be coming. You always have to keep your foot on the pedal.”

That observation landed differently on a day when the world No. 1 couldn’t keep the ball on the green. The Phoenix crowd, accustomed to watching Scheffler impose his will on the Stadium Course, witnessed rare vulnerability instead.

Round 2 becomes a survival exercise for Scheffler—his 65-cut streak hanging on, whatever corrections he found at the practice range. Gotterup’s lead faces its own weekend test. But Thursday’s lesson required no elaboration: dominance remains subject to revision without notice.