Scottie Scheffler's hot streak ends with Genesis Invitational disaster

Scottie Scheffler scored his worst round in almost three years in the third round of the Genesis Invitational 2025. The third round of the 99th edition of the tournament concluded on Saturday, February 15, at Torrey Pines South Course in San Diego, California.

After scoring 70 in the first round and 67 in the second, Scheffler was positioned second on the leaderboard with a score of 7 under. He started well on the front nine with four straight pars followed by a birdie on the fifth hole. However, he struggled on par-5 sixth and par-5 ninth and faltered with bogeys.

He managed four straight pars on the back nine but stumbled double bogey on par-4 14th. He scored another bogey on the par-3 16th and closed the round with 4-over 76. He slipped on the leaderboard and is tied for eighth with Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Nico Echavarria and Maverick McNealy and five shots off the lead.

This was his worst round after the 2022 Players Championship. He had scored 76 in the second and final round of the tournament and tied for 55th. He has missed several cuts after the tournament but has not scored worse than 76.

Talking about the rough at the Torrey Pines, Scheffler said after the second round (via Tee Scripts):

"You know PGA TOUR events typically have a good amount of rough. Not this high, but typically in a PGA TOUR event if you're not driving the ball in the fairway, you're going to be in trouble."

"I think more and more we see golf courses trying to challenge us in that way and I think that's something that's good. I think you need to be rewarded for hitting good drives and punished for hitting bad ones. This is a week where if you're out the fairway, it's going to be pretty challenging," he added.

Scottie Scheffler will tee off with Rory McIlroy in the final round on Sunday at 1:20 p.m. ET.

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Scottie Scheffler credits the key to his success: "Superior control of my golf ball"

Scottie Scheffler had very successful 2023 and 2024 seasons. In 2023, he competed in 23 events and made the cut in all of them with two wins at WM Phoenix Open and the Players Championship. He also had two runner-up finishes at the BMW Championship and PGA Championship.

In 2024, he had seven wins and two runner-up wins. Rory McIlroy recently credited his success to his mistake-free play and bogey-less rounds. During his season opener at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, he was asked if avoiding mistakes has always been part of his approach. He said (via Tee Scripts):

"It's a simple way to put it, but I think having like superior control of my golf ball is what enabled me to not make a lot of mistakes. That's like having a good feel where my swing's at so I know how to manage my way around the course, playing the appropriate shot. I made plenty of mistakes, but I think it's more about managing where the miss is."

He further said that during the 2024 golf season, he had a strong feel for his club which helped him navigate the course effectively. Scottie Scheffler was adjudged as Player of the Year for his spectacular season in 2024.