Suddenly the PGA Tour has become a little more interesting because of Scottie Scheffler (Titleist Pro V1) and, to a lesser extent, Jordan Spieth (Titleist Pro V1).
To the surprise of no one, Scheffler won the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, though he did it with a score of 31-under par, tying the PGA Tour record for 72 holes. Frankly, the field lacked several of the top-ranked players in the world, so it would have been a total reversal of form for Scheffler to come undone. Though he has been struggling at times this season, he came into the tournament with three top-five finishes in eight starts and five top-10s. Scheffler is ranked number one in the world, but the system doesn’t take into account current form. Right now, Rory McIlroy (TaylorMade TP5) is the pre-eminent player in the world now based on his results this season.
Scheffler started off the Byron Nelson at 10-under par and increased it to 18-under after two rounds without carding a bogey. He began the final round with an eight-shot lead and retained it. Again, as impressive as it was, there was no one capable of keeping pace with him. His biggest opponent was himself and not losing his concentration.
A bigger test will come in the PGA Championship in three weeks.
As for Spieth, who had off-season wrist surgery, the Dallas native has shown signs of improvement this season. The Byron Nelson was his best finish of the season, placing fourth with 19-under par and a final round of nine-under, the best in the field. It was his career lowest final round since 2021. It was also his best finish since a third in the Sentry to start the 2024 season.
Spieth needs only a win in the PGA Championship to complete a career Grand Slam. He saw what McIlroy did winning the recent Masters to complete his career Grand Slam and how it took 11 years. If his form in the CJ Cup holds true, Spieth has a chance, but keep in mind he didn’t win the event. He will have to be even better and hope both McIlroy and Scheffler play poorly. That would seem to be highly unlikely.
CJ CUP DOES IT RIGHT: Watching the CJ Cup on TV, I was impressed by the sponsor’s indoor fan zone, House Of CJ, featuring interactive experiences and selling clothing and golf equipment. Overall, nothing can quite replicate the craziness of the Waste Management Open and its iconic 16th hole, but there’s something to be said about an all-ages family area at an event. The CJ Cup also has a VIP area that is even more impressive.
I also like that the tournament had caddies wearing inspirational messages on their bibs instead of their players’ names. It was all part of Mental Health Awareness Month campaign. The messages reflected how players go about the mental aspects of the game. Given how players on the PGA Tour and LPGA Tour have talked about the mental pressures of the sport in recent years, it was an important message. Lexi Thompson (Maxfli Tour) publicly stated she retired from full-time play in the LPGA Tour at the end of last year because of the mental challenges.
MAXFLI CELEBRATES: Titleist, TaylorMade, Callaway and Srixon are the top brand balls on the PGA Tour and LPGA Tour, so the win by Ben Griffin (Maxfli Tour X) with Andrew Novak (Srixon Z-Star Diamond) in the Zurich Classic was historic. It was the first win by a PGA Tour player using a Maxfli since 2003, according to Golf.com, though Novak was also using the Maxfli ball because the rules state that both players have to use the same brand of ball throughout the final round.
Griffin, who began playing Maxfli last year, has been consistently improving. He said he switched to Maxfli after Thompson endorsed it and talking to her. Tour Champions player Fred (Maxfli Tour) is another who switched to the brand.
Dick’s Sporting Goods bought Maxfli in 2008 and decided a few years ago to bring it back to the PGA Tour.
“We’ve got a great team working on this,” Dick’s Executive Chairman Ed Stack told Golf.com. “We were very committed to finding a way to have a ball that would have the performance characteristics to be able to be played on tour. So it was just a lot of hard work and iteration.”
The company had a highlight reel promotional moment when Griffin made a critical birdie on the 17th hole of the Zurich Classic to essentially seal the win.
