Players Championship: Ex-PGA Tour winner breaks down Scottie Scheffler's "problem"

Scottie Scheffler was spotted pounding balls on the driving range in the torrential rain hours after he concluded his first round at the 2026 Players Championship. 

The world number one went round the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass in level par. 

Not a disaster by any stretch of the imagination, but it continued his streak of starting a tad slowly on a Thursday. 

Scheffler was quick to tell reporters on Wednesday in his pre-tournament news conference that he wasn't really in a slump and he manages his expectations in a different way. 

It's shot by shot and not week-to-week, he explained. 

But that being said, something clearly isn't quite right and the 29-year-old American isn't pleased. 

Unsurprisingly, Scheffler's form came into sharp focus during Golf Channel's "Live From" show on Thursday. 

Former PGA Tour winner turned analyst and provocateur, Brandel Chamblee, was adamant that he knew the reason why the four-time major champion is currently going through a slump. 

"I don't even recognise this golf swing from Scottie Scheffler," he said. 

"It's a foot-and-a-half shorter than it was last year and the face is wide open. That's the source of the problem."

Watch the segment here:

Former European Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley pointed out that the Stadium Course has several holes that have "trouble down the left side". 

In recent weeks, Scheffler has had trouble with his driver going that way. 

He wasn't sure which driver to use this week, but opted to go back to the one that carried him to three of four of his major wins. 

"Is he overcompensating?" asked McGinley.

McGinley added: "He's not quite on his game. He got spooked a little bit last week. 

"Very uncharacteristic for him. His statistics went down quite a lot. 

"He's obviously had some bad [first] rounds this year. 

"There's a couple of things going on that are gnawing away at his confidence.

"This is not a crisis, this is a bump in the road."