PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Scottie Scheffler isn’t a flashy guy.
He comes across as a golfer who would be just as happy playing his tournament rounds in front of just family and friends.
Scheffler’s family and friends will have a lot of company outside the ropes for the first two rounds of the Players Championship when it begins with the opening round Thursday at TPC Sawgrass.
This is what happens when you’re the No. 2 ranked player in the world, as Scheffler is, and paired with No. 1 ranked Jon Rahm and No. 3 ranked Rory McIlroy.
The world’s Nos. 1, 2 and 3 players will tee off at 7:56 a.m. Thursday from the 10th tee and at 12:56 p.m. Friday from the first tee.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” Scheffler said Wednesday of the power pairing. “Rory and Jon are very talented golfers. I’m just looking forward to going out there and watching them play and having a good time out there and competing together. I’m sure that the fans will be out there watching us. Hopefully, we’ll be able to make some birdies and give them some roars.
“Any time we’re playing in front of people it’s a lot of fun,” Scheffler went on. “Hopefully, the environment here will be the same [as at Bay Hill for the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week]. I’m sure it will. As a player, that’s stuff that you look forward to. I like hearing them cheer.
“You don’t like hearing the groan when you miss a putt from about 10 feet. It’s more fun when the ball goes into the hole and you hear nice applause. I’m sure we’ll have a great crowd out there and hopefully be able to make some noise.”
Scheffler’s best finish at the Players was a tie for 22nd.
He already has a win this year, at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, and he nearly won the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week, coming up just short of forcing a playoff.
“I feel like my game’s in good shape,” Scheffler said. “I’ve had a lot of solid starts this year. Obviously, the win in Phoenix always helps make the year feel a little bit better.”
Golf likes labels. Scheffler was asked if he believes he, Rahm and McIlroy can be called the “big three” at the top of the rankings for a long time.
“Who knows?” he said. “That’s pretty far ahead. Both Jon and Rory have won many, many golf tournaments out here. If you added up all our wins together mine would be a pretty small percentage of that win total. So hopefully we’ll all continue to play great golf.
“I think it’s fun having three guys kind of jostling for the world No. 1 and I’m very pleased to be one of them. Rory and Jon are both such talented players that any time I can be spoken in the same breath as those guys it’s special for me. Especially growing up watching a guy like Rory play golf for a long time. Hopefully, we’ll continue to play good and be able to compete for a long time out here.”