Scottie Scheffler gets little things right in surprise 3M Open debut

BLAINE, Minn. — As a Minnesotan — me, the author of this article — I can assure you Scottie Scheffler has done all of the right things in the Land of 10,000 Lakes this week. He went downtown with his family and stopped at a local coffee shop on Monday (we’re big on stimulating the urban economy), signed every autograph after his practice round on Tuesday and complimented fans on Wednesday.

“A few people that recognized me were very nice,” Scheffler said on Wednesday, about his Monday adventure into Minneapolis. “They asked for photos. I was with my family so I said ‘No, not right now.’ They didn’t make a face, or they were kind of like, No, no, I totally understand, thanks for being here. I was kind of taken back by how nice people have been so far.”

Minnesota Nice. That’s another tagline here. But mostly people are just thrilled the World No. 1 is in town (skyrocketing year-over-year ticket sales prove it). And on Thursday, Scheffler’s arrival was well-attended.

He teed off at 7:29 a.m. local and had a large gallery from the start. It only swelled as his round continued. One security officer walking with the players flexed his seniority to land in the Scheffler threesome. The group’s walking standard bearer was popular, too — everyone wanted a picture next to the sign with Scheffler’s name on it. By the time Scheffler got to the par-4 9th — his 18th hole of the day — the fans horse-shoeing around the green rivaled what the tournament might see for the final pairing on the final hole come Sunday. (Although Scheffler might very well be in that too.)

Scheffler gave them plenty to cheer about. He made six birdies and didn’t make a bogey en route to a six-under 65, which was good for the clubhouse lead soon after he finished. (Ben Kohles shot 62 in the afternoon to take the first-round lead.)

“It was a lot of fun,” Scheffler said. “It was a really good crowd this morning, especially for an early tee time. It’s always fun getting to play in front of so many people. The crowd support for all three of us in the group today was really nice.”

In his pre-tournament press conference at TPC Twin Cities on Wednesday, Scheffler talked about the “ebbs and flows” of putting and the importance of start line and the unpredictability of links greens, where a balky putter slowed him at last week’s Open Championship, where he still managed to finish 4th.

On Thursday, his luck turned. Scheffler finished first in Strokes Gained: Putting and made more than 130 feet of putts.

“Golf’s funny — some days you’re hitting your lines and the line seems to be tracking toward the hole and other days it feels like you’re doing the same thing and it kind of goes around the hole,” Scheffler said after his round. “But today was a day in which I was able to hole some nice putts, and that’s why I was able to make some birdies out there.”

Starting on the back nine, he missed a 7-footer for birdie on 10 but didn’t miss another from that range all round. He birdied both par-5s in his first nine and birdied three of his last six coming in, one of which was a 28-footer on the par-3 4th hole.

Scheffler’s 65 comes after just two days (and 18 holes) of prep on a course he’d never seen before. He hit 10 fairways and 15 of 18 greens in regulation. But the winner here always goes low; he’ll have to keep it up. He had fresh greens on Thursday but has a late tee time on Friday (1:44 p.m. ET).

“I didn’t hit a bunch of fairways early, but I was able to kind of manage my way around and get out of some trouble areas without making any bogeys,” Scheffler said. “That was important keeping my momentum going. Once I started to hit fairways and gave myself some looks, I was able to start making some birdies.”