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12D AGO

Scottie Scheffler finishes top 10 in competitive return at AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am

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Leads field in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green

    Written by Kevin Prise @PGATOURKevin

    Scottie Scheffler wasn’t his usual dominant self at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, but a Scheffler working his way back into competitive shape was good enough for a top-10 finish in his first start since puncturing his palm in a ravioli accident during the holiday break.

    Scheffler closed in 5-under 67 at Pebble Beach Golf Links for a T9 finish at 15-under 273, six strokes behind winner Rory McIlroy, who earned his 27th PGA TOUR title with a closing 66 on the Monterey Peninsula. Scheffler, the three-time defending PGA TOUR Player of the Year, began the final round on the periphery of contention, six strokes back of 54-hole leader Sepp Straka, but the Texan never seriously factored Sunday as the leaders continued to stockpile birdies.


    Scottie Scheffler curls in 33-footer for birdie at AT&T Pebble Beach

    Scottie Scheffler curls in 33-footer for birdie at AT&T Pebble Beach


    But after pushing himself hard in cold Texas weather in the week preceding Pebble and waiting until that Friday to fully commit to playing, it was an encouraging week for the two-time defending PLAYERS champion and reigning Olympic gold medalist. Other than the limited-field Hero World Challenge in early December, he hadn’t competed on TOUR since winning his first season-long FedExCup title at the TOUR Championship in early September.

    Scheffler originally planned to begin his 2025 season at The Sentry, and then at The American Express, but his Christmastime kitchen injury (victim to a broken wine glass) required a brief recovery period. There were minimal ill effects of that injury at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, where he led the field in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green and ranked sixth in greens in regulation (54 of 72 greens). He also fared decently on the greens (22nd in Strokes Gained: Putting), continuing to use a claw grip that he debuted at the Hero World Challenge.

    Scheffler struggled with a right miss early Sunday, finding the Pacific Ocean to the right of the fourth fairway and then missing his second shot right of the green at the par-5 sixth, provoking a one-handed finish and a look of dismay. But he got up-and-down both times, for par and birdie respectively, as he knocks off the inevitable short-game rust after some time away from competition (he finished the week No. 63 in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green). After a pedestrian 1-under 35 on the front nine, Scheffler carded birdies at Nos. 11, 14, 15 and 18 on a bogey-free second nine. He played a deft pitch from behind the par-5 18th green to inside 3 feet for a closing birdie, securing his 34th top-10 finish in his last 43 starts. He finished sixth at last year’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in his tournament debut; it's now 2-for-2 in top-10 finishes at “one of the cathedrals of golf,” as McIlroy put it Sunday.


    Scottie Scheffler chips it tight to finish with birdie at AT&T Pebble Beach

    Scottie Scheffler chips it tight to finish with birdie at AT&T Pebble Beach


    Scheffler is set to compete at next week’s WM Phoenix Open, where he finished third a year ago after back-to-back victories in 2022 and 2023. The 13-time TOUR winner is a horse for the course at TPC Scottsdale, and his strong showing in his comeback at Pebble Beach suggests he’ll be threatening for another title on Super Bowl Sunday in Arizona.

    Kevin Prise is an associate editor for the PGA TOUR. He is on a lifelong quest to break 80 on a course that exceeds 6,000 yards and to see the Buffalo Bills win a Super Bowl. Follow Kevin Prise on Twitter.