THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

March 15, 2025

Scottie Scheffler

TPC Sawgrass

Quick Quotes

Q. What was the toughest part of today's round with the conditions?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Obviously the wind. Swirling, kind of gusty. I did a pretty good job managing it most of the day. It was just really tough out there.

Q. What happened on your second shot on 16 out of the pine straw?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I think it hit the ground in front of me. I was trying to hit a low hook around it to get up there somewhere near the green, and I think hit the ground in front of me.

Q. Was it on the down path of the swing?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: No, like the ball, I think I hit it so low, it was kind of on the upslope. I think it hit the upslope.

Q. Took off to the right?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah.

Q. I haven't seen what the rest of the day is going to look like, but how much do you need to have happen at the end of the day?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: We'll see. It was a tough finish for me. I felt like I did some good things there towards the end and just the shots weren't going exactly where I thought they were going to. Hit some really nice shots that didn't end up where I thought they should have, and frustrating finish, but we'll see.

You never know. Maybe do something crazy tomorrow. You've got guys shooting some pretty low numbers this week. So going into tomorrow, just try and get off to a good start and go from there.

Q. Was there a point where it started to feel -- where the conditions started to get worse to you?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I mean, it was whipping pretty good most of the day. I don't think it ever really got worse. It's funny, on the front nine, I felt like we were a bit more exposed on some of the greens with the wind, and then on the back nine, a lot of the greens kind of get tucked away a little bit. So I don't know if it felt like it got worse, but it was definitely very challenging most of the day.

Q. After last year coming back in the final round, does that give you any kind of confidence?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I'm not really thinking about it too much right now. I'm just a bit frustrated with the finish but hoping to come out of the gates a little bit better tomorrow and turn things around.

Q. I also didn't see the lie on 12. I just saw the result. What did you have?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I was in the pine straw and it looked like it was going to come off soft and it came out like a flier. The ball didn't even have a chance of staying on the green.

It was a shot where I was taking on a little bit of risk trying to get the ball up on to the green, and the pitch from the right side of the green is not really that easy, either.

I felt like taking on a little bit of risk, and this time I paid the price for it.

Q. When you said you were frustrated because maybe you thought they would end up where they should and they didn't, how do you respond to that? Justin was in here yesterday talking about your mental game is so strong. Is it kind of nice to sometimes let off a little stream do you think?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Well, I think you need to let off a little bit of steam at times. A good example today on 15, I had 139 hole, hit a 125 shot that landed 139. Get to No. -- the thing barely goes over the green. It was couple yards from having a great look at birdie. Ended up making a bogey there on 16 after a bad tee shot.

Get to 17, it's 47 pin. I hit the exact same shot and the ball carries almost 20 yards shorter than it did two holes before, exact same wind.

Then we get to 18, I've got 134 pin, I hit a 120 shot, and it carries over 140 yards.

So it's just one of those deals where it's challenging with the wind, and maybe I was a touch off out there and it exaggerated some of those misses or maybe the winds were that gusty and stuff happened.

But at the end of the day, put up a good fight. Just looking to just get off to a better start tomorrow and hopefully make some stuff happen.

Q. Tomorrow is supposed to be worse with these conditions. Did you learn something today that you can carry over into tomorrow with wind gusts supposed to be even stronger and potential rain?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Not really, to be honest with you. I've played this course in some pretty heavy winds before. This was actually not the worst wind that I've played it in. I think it was maybe three or four years ago we had that one day where it was blowing gusts over 40, close to 50 miles an hour.

It's just a tough golf course, and the areas are small to hit it in, especially when it gets this windy they get even smaller. It was challenging. But put up a good fight, and I'm looking to go the same tomorrow.