Scottie Scheffler's Open Championship start should terrify the rest of the field

Scottie Scheffler opened up his 2025 Open Championship with a 3-under 68 in the first round at Royal Portrush Golf Club. He currently sits one stroke behind co-leaders Matt Fitzpatrick, Jacob Skov Olesen and Haotong Li, but the rest of the field should be petrified of the World No. 1 after Thursday's round.

It wasn't the 68 in itself — it was how the 68 came to be.

It was tough to score at Royal Portrush on Thursday if you weren't playing from the fairway. Well, Scheffler hit just 3-of-14 fairways in the first round to rank 148th in driving accuracy in the 156-man field. He still found a way to make five birdies and only two bogeys on the day.

So, how did he score so well if he was playing from the rough all day? He currently ranks second in the field in strokes gained on approach, but that's not a surprise considering he's the best iron player in the world by a wide margin. The scary part is that Scheffler ranks 11th in the field in strokes gained from putting (2.267) and didn't have a single three-putt on these tough, undulating greens.