Scottie Scheffler's Flex, Bryson Wins In Korea, A Peek At The PGA, And The Joy Of Caddying For A Brother

We have to start this week's edition of Par Talk with an apology, as I completely ghosted everyone last Monday without publishing the weekly column. The excuses for missing a week are valid, I swear, as they involve caddying for my younger brother and completely unplugging for some much-needed time away with the family. More on that below.

As for the things you all probably care about much more, the actual golf stories that unfolded over the past week, well, that list starts with Scottie Scheffler after his ludicrous eight-shot victory at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. Some may say Scheffler is back, but I say you can't be back if you never left.

On the other side of the globe in South Korea, Bryson DeChambeau earned his first victory since the 2024 U.S. Open as he was able to hold off Charles Howell III for what was his third LIV Golf title of his career.

DeChambeau is one of many players very much trending just two weeks out from the PGA Championship. That list of players also includes Jordan Spieth, so we'll give the year's second major championship a quick peek as well.

As always, feel free to reach out to me at mark.harris@outkick.com with thoughts, concerns, questions, and of course disagreements. Find me on X at @itismarkharris.

Carrying The Bag For The Younger Brother

My younger brother is a PGA Professional, and for the second year in a row, he's managed to qualify for the PGA Professional Championship, which is a major accomplishment in its own right in a very competitive section. I've been fortunate enough to caddie for him on both occasions, last year in Frisco and this past week in Port St. Lucie. While we fell plenty short of the ultimate goal of finishing inside the Top 20 and earning a spot in the PGA Championship, that outcome almost feels like it would be an added bonus at this point.

With my brother still on the right side of 30, he hopefully has dozens more opportunities to make some noise in the annual event. It's very much the early stage of the process as he navigates teaching, the business, and having a young family.

This brings us to the p-word, perspective, something I think we both took away from our experience this time around.

Over the course of walking three practice rounds together and another 36 holes of tournament play, you walk off that final green with more than just a pair of aching feet. You walk away with appreciation for the process, the simple opportunity to compete, and serious pride in trying your damndest to get that stupid ball in that stupid cup in as few strokes as possible.

It's a dumb game, but damn it's a great one. Carrying around 14 sticks for my brother to swing and having a front-row seat as he chases a goal, balancing the personas of being an older brother and a supporter, and being a part of the grind that feels more impossible than possible at times, is just special.

Maybe the stars align one year in the future, and he gets to tee it up in a PGA Championship. Or, maybe they don't, but I think I can speak for both of us when I say we'll always appreciate those walks.

Scottie Scheffler Isn't Back

Scottie Scheffler never left.

Given that Scheffler won four times before the calendar flipped to May last year, we unfairly sort of expected him to win at a similar pace to begin 2025. It may have taken him nine whole starts to find the winner's circle for the first time in the new year, but do not get it twisted, Scheffler has been clicking at an insane rate all year long.

Winning golf tournaments is hard, even for the No. 1 player in the world sometimes, but the four-day spectacle Scheffler put on this week in his home state of Texas looked way, way too easy.

Scheffler began Sunday's final round with an eight-shot lead, and most would have naturally taken their foot off of the gas and become a bit disengaged, but he elected to fire a final round of eight-under to get to 31-under par and win the CJ Cup Byron Nelson by eight shots.

It was the clinic of all clinics from Scheffler at TPC Craig Ranch. He finished the week first in approach, first in greens hit in regulation, first in putts per green in regulation, and sixth in strokes gained: putting. 

Scheffler gained more than 18 shots on the field this week with his ball striking alone. That's an absolutely laughable statistic, and when you pair it with a very hot putter, there is nobody that can compete with him. No one.

Scheffler now has one win, a runner-up, and four more Top 10 finishes in his nine starts in 2025, and that all comes after he sent a wine glass through his hand during Christmas. Again, Mr. Inevitable never left.

Bryson, Spieth, And Storylines Galore For The PGA Championship

Bryson DeChambeau hasn't lacked confidence in quite some time, but it certainly doesn't hurt his psyche that he found the winner's circle two weeks prior to the PGA Championship. 

Past Rory McIlroy and Scheffler, it's hard to argue against the idea that anyone is playing better golf than DeChambeaua at the moment, coupling this LIV victory with his T-5 finish at the Masters just a month ago. He already had plenty of attention surrounding him heading into the second major of the year, but picked up even more so with his win in Korea.

Speaking of players trending in the right direction ahead of the PGA Championship, Jordan Spieth's name has to be on that list as well. While he hasn't won a PGA Tour event since April 2022, he has been incredibly solid in 2025 with six Top 25 finishes and may have found something to really build upon in Texas with his T-4 finish at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson.

Spieth appears to be fully healthy for the first time in a long time, and the fact that he's driving the ball well and the putter is cooperating makes him a dangerous man.

Golf is better with Spieth in the mix, especially heading into a PGA Championship where, with a win, he would complete the career Grand Slam.

We'll have plenty of PGA Championship content in the days and weeks to come leading into Quail Hollow.