PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Scottie Scheffler has a first-round problem.

Well, that’s harsh. But it has cost him the chance to win the first three events he’s played in 2026.

Scheffler made a heroic leap up the leaderboard on Sunday at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, firing a spectacular final-round 63. It was awe-inspiring, a feat of sheer brilliance that displayed everything that makes Scheffler special. His ball-striking was unrelenting and sensational, carding three eagles – two of which came after exemplary approach shots left putts inside 5 feet. Even after bogeys, Scheffler persisted and bounced back.

It wasn’t enough.

Scheffler lost to Collin Morikawa by two shots. If only Scheffler hadn’t shot even-par on Thursday, digging himself a 10-shot deficit he spent the rest of the week trying to get out of. It’s a thought he had last week at the WM Phoenix Open, too, when he shot 3 over in the first round only to come storming back on Sunday.

There, he finished one stroke out of a playoff. Scheffler shot the lowest score from the first round onward in both events.

“A frustrating start to both of the last couple weeks,” said Scheffler. “But I think these are some of the weeks when you look back, I'm very proud of sticking with it, not giving up even when I felt like things were going against me.”

It marked Scheffler’s 18th straight top 10, continuing a streak that looked in jeopardy on Thursday as he sat in a tie for 62nd.

It’s now the longest top-10 streak in more than 60 years on the PGA TOUR.

Scheffler’s results to begin the season: Win-T3-T4. He’s lost to only 10 players in eight stroke-play events dating back to mid-July, a stretch that includes four wins.

Scheffler was trying to win in a way he normally does not have to: from behind. It altered Scheffler’s approach on Sunday at Pebble Beach, a rare omission in itself. Typically, a golfer who preaches trying to take the same approach to every round, Scheffler admitted to upping the aggression throughout the final round. That partly explains why Scheffler made three bogeys along with the three eagles and six birdies.

“It's almost like I'm play(ing) a wolf game; you're trying to birdie every single hole,” he said. “If I shot 75 today it wouldn't make much difference. Just get up there and kind of freewheeled it and did some nice things.”

Those nice things are worth recounting. It began on the first hole, when Scheffler wedged it to 15 feet and drained the putt, the first of many mid-range putts he holed. He hit an exemplary 7-wood on the par-5 second that landed softly and settled 5 feet from the hole. After converting that, Scheffler holed a 10-footer on the third that pushed him to 4-under heading to the fourth tee. He made a pair of pars on Nos. 4 and 5 before landing his next blow on the sixth. In the fairway off the tee, Scheffler laced a 3-wood up the hill that dropped like a feather, 25 feet from the cup. Once he curled that putt in, the race was on.

He birdied the short par-3 seventh to get to 18-under, though that’s when his momentum slowed a bit. He played the next 10 holes even par (three birdies offset by three bogeys), briefly holding a share of the lead during that span, but by the time he reached the 18th, he needed something special.

Of course, he delivered.

Scheffler hit a knockdown 6-iron from 186 yards that landed a few paces left of the hole and spun closer to the cup. By the time it settled, Scheffler had only 3 feet for a closing eagle. It moved Scheffler into a tie for first at 20 under, but with the weather conditions calmer than expected, the groups in front of him kept making birdies, and there was nothing more he could do.

Scheffler didn’t provide a throughline for what has ailed him in the first round of the last two events. At the WM Phoenix Open, he felt there was room to improve with his swing, but he walked off Pebble Beach on Thursday pleased with how he swung it, he just didn’t score well.

“It's a funny game. Sometimes like things go your way and sometimes things don't,” Scheffler said. "Like today's the day where I holed a lot of putts from 10, 20 feet. On greens like this, there's a lot of suspense when the ball's rolling up to the hole. The beginning of the week those putts weren't falling and they all decided to go in today, so it's just a funny game.”

They seem to go in more often for Scheffler, who has begun 2026 brilliantly, even if he has just one win to show for it. He’s the favorite heading into next week at The Genesis Invitational. A strong first round at The Riviera Country Club might be the only thing standing in his way of adding a second.