Golf Tips Handbook: Your Free Guide Awaits

Unlock our Exclusive Golf Tips Handbook- a curated collection of the smartest, most practical lessons we’ve published this year.

Download now

Unless Scottie Scheffler hits a rough patch and someone else puts together something special, stopping him is always tough. That’s how he rode into his fifth Hero World Challenge to become the only player to secure the title thrice in a row. However, even for a player as dominant as him, golf has a way of delivering humbling moments. Day 3 of the Hero World Challenge provided a perfect, frustrating example.

Playing the 206-yard par-3 8th hole, Scheffler pitched the ball up the cliff towards the green. However, it fell short of the shortest grass around the green. The slope was too steep for it to make the climb. So, it instead rolled back down to his foot and was only stopped by the sinkhole next to the American.

Fair to say, things only got worse for the World No. 1.

The PGA Tour’s official page shared the video, captioning it, “Golf is hard … even for Scottie Scheffler.” Even the world’s best player couldn’t fathom what just happened as he kept looking at the ball, stupefied, as it kept rolling back. Watch it yourself:

Had he chipped it a little bit harder, the ball would have certainly made it to the green. But it would have also bounced away from the hole and rolled a little too far for his liking.

That certainly put him at a disadvantage. But considering how he still ended up scoring a bogey on the 8th hole, Scheffler could have afforded to take the risk of over-chipping it. Either way, by that point in the game, he had already picked up a considerable lead on the leaderboard and was more focused on what’s next rather than what has already happened.

“A few unfortunate breaks, but overall did some really good stuff,” Scheffler said. “But overall I feel like it’s a good place to kind of see where my game’s at and then kind of get ready for the season. It feels like a good warmup event.”

With one more round to go, Scottie Scheffler still has a lot to play for. Let’s see where he ended up and what he still has to do to win his third consecutive Hero World Challenge title.

Top Stories

Cam Smith Net Worth in 2025: Career Earnings, Endorsements & More About LIV Golf Pro

Jordan Spieth Faces Fresh Setback at Hero World Challenge Just When Injury Woes Settled

Rory McIlroy Suffers ‘Banana Peel’ Blunder as His Australian Open Setbacks Continue

What Is the Playoff Format at Crown Australian Open 2025?

How far away is Scottie Scheffler from securing his third Hero World Challenge title in a row?

After completing three rounds, it’s safe to say that Scottie Scheffler is well in the title race to capture the 2025 Hero World Challenge. Scheffler finished second on the leaderboard, one stroke behind Sepp Straka after 54 holes. He managed a 7-under 65 in the third round to push himself to the position.

However, before the blunder, Scheffler had started a birdie blitzkrieg.

Before the 8th hole blunder, the reigning Open champion made four birdies and an eagle to move to 6-under for the day. Even after the bogey on the 8th, Scheffler was back to his own self, adding four more circles to his scorecard on the back nine. But things started going sideways in the final three holes.

Scottie Scheffler bogeyed the 16th after his 6-iron approach shot landed on the left bunker. Once again, on the 18th, his approach missed the green on the wrong side, catching the slope and rolling down. Scheffler looked visibly frustrated and conceded a bogey. Safe to say, the Austrian leading the field took advantage of Scheffler’s few lapses.

“He definitely got it going quick,” Straka said of the world’s No. 1 player. “It didn’t look like he was going to miss a putt there for a little bit. But it’s golf, it usually evens out a lot, and I just tried to focus on my own game.”

Notably, there are quite a few players near the top of the leaderboard. Hideki Matsuyama and Alex Noren finished only two strokes behind him. Wyndham Clark, Justin Rose, Cameron Young, and others are within five shots of the lead as well. Any one of them can derail Scottie Scheffler’s goal of winning the $1 million paycheck and the maximum OWGR points from the 2025 Hero World Challenge this Sunday.

Will that affect the American going into the season? Not really, as he admitted himself. But would he want to add another record to his 2025 season, where he led the tour in 29 statistical categories? Certainly.