World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler arrived at the WM Phoenix Open this week in a very different place than he was a year ago.

Scheffler’s appearance at TPC Scottsdale marks just his second start of the 2026 PGA TOUR season. His first could hardly have gone better, as Scheffler opened the year with a victory at The American Express, a sharp contrast to the slow and uncertain beginning that defined his 2025 campaign.

Last season, Scheffler did not make his debut until the fifth event of the year after suffering a freak offseason injury. The world bore witness to the dangers of cooking homemade pasta as Scheffler sustained a deep puncture wound to his right palm due to liberal use of a wine glass. The injury, which required surgery to remove glass fragments near his middle finger, forced him to miss the first four PGA TOUR events of 2025 and cast uncertainty as he came off his torrid nine-win 2024 campaign.

“Definitely a lot easier starting off that way instead of missing the first few tournaments due to hand surgery,” Scheffler said Wednesday. “Did a bit less cooking in the offseason this year. Stuck to plastic silverware instead of metal stuff. Nah, I’m only kidding.”

Scheffler’s return to Scottsdale is significant beyond the calendar. The Tom Wieskopf-designed Stadium Course is where he earned his first career TOUR victory in 2022, the breakthrough that launched one of the most prolific runs in modern golf. Since that win, Scheffler has added 19 more PGA TOUR titles in just four seasons, winning roughly one out of every five tournaments he has entered during that span.

Yet even Scheffler’s dominance showed brief vulnerability last year. After nine worldwide victories in 2024, the hand injury disrupted his rhythm and preparation. He returned at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, finishing tied for ninth, then followed with a T25 showing at the WM Phoenix Open. A second-round 66 ignited the Scottsdale crowds, but a closing 72 raised questions at the time about whether Scheffler was fully back.

That T25 is, at this moment, his worst tournament finish since. By May, Scheffler had regained his footing, winning THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson before adding two major championships and reestablishing himself as the sport’s clear standard-bearer. He has not finished outside the top 10 since THE PLAYERS Championship in March.

It took Scheffler around five months to ramp back up into his peak form seen throughout 2024. This year, with a full winter of preparation, he began his year with a win at La Quinta.

“It’s nice to get off to that kind of start,” he said. “It’s nice to feel very prepared going into the season. I feel like my body is in a good spot, my head is in a good spot. We had a really nice break to kind of get ready to come back out here and compete.”

Despite the early win, Scheffler emphasized that his focus remains narrow and immediate.

“I’ve always been a guy that does my best when I’m staying present and focusing on the things that I can focus on at the time,” he said. “I mean, it’s great to be able to see results to start the year, but we’re here playing another tournament. Last week is forgotten about, and I’m ready to come out here and compete again.”

That reality has reshaped his offseason priorities.

“So a lot of it is getting home and getting rest and spending time with the people I love at home and getting ready to come back out here and do it again,” Scheffler said. “Rest is a huge part of it, and I’ve come to value that more as my career has gone forward.”

With a full offseason behind him, no rehab timetable to manage and momentum already established, Scheffler arrives in Phoenix appearing both rested and relentless, a combination that could make 2026 even more daunting for the rest of the field.