Scheffler gets in his Ryder work, MacKenzie Hughes gets the lead

NAPA — It was Scottie Scheffler’s first competitive round in three weeks. He had a 2-under par, 70, seven shots behind the leader. He felt frustrated. He felt rewarded. 

This is the annual Procore Championship, the opening event of the PGA Tour Fall Schedule.

In a normal year, Scheffler, the world’s No. 1-ranked golfer, surely would not be here, but at home in Texas resting and relaxing.

However, as we know, this is not a normal year. It is a Ryder Cup year, and the matches between the US and Europe are only two weeks away.  

So Scheffler and his Ryder teammates are entered in this event at Silverado Country Club, where MacKenzie Hughes, on Thursday, leapt into a quick first-round lead with a scintillating 9-under par, 63, that put him a shot ahead of Matt McCarty and Ben Griffin. 

The 34-year-old Hughes is from a country, Canada, which is not eligible to play in the Ryder Cup (he’s been in the Presidents Cup).

But Griffin, certainly, is eligible and is a member of the American squad. 

You could call it a tournament within a tournament, because not only are the Ryder players using the event to get ready, but they are also trying to win as they would any tournament.

Scheffler, Griffin, and U.S. Open Champion, J.J. Spaun, who shot 5-under 67, are among the Cup players who are working together as they will need to against the Euros.

“Well, I think we all can learn from each other out here,” said Scheffler.  “Just because you’re good at one thing doesn’t mean you can’t learn from somebody else. I’m always trying to learn

little bits and pieces from guys when they’ll give up some information.”

What we learned about Hughes is that when he gets hot, he stays that way. He had eleven birdies and was unfazed by back-to-back bogeys on 14 and 15.

“I did some really nice things,” Hughes confirmed. “I had a nice feel with the putter, so it was really just about like continuing to put my foot on the gas and go forward. 

Putting has been the issue in the Ryder Cup. Europe somehow makes everything it needs, even though the US team would seem to be better overall. 

There’s a theory that Europeans do so well because they have better cohesiveness. 

Thus, U.S. captain Keegan Bradley was allowed to arrange the groupings in the Procore to give it a Ryder Cup feel, with friends Scheffler and Griffin playing together.

“I think mentally he’s really tough,” Scheffler said about Griffin. “I think he does a really good job of staying free and loose while he’s putting, and that’s helped my putting as well.”

That’s probably the only part of the game where Scheffler, straight and long off the tee and on the fairways, can use a little help. Emphasize little.