How impressive was Scottie Scheffler’s streak he just snapped? Here’s a hint

Chad Ramey had just narrowly missed the water on the short par-3 15th during the third round of the Texas Children’s Houston Open on Saturday. At the 15th at Memorial Park Golf Course, misses short and left funnel down to the creek below. Ramey, luckily, was safe by less than a foot.

As for Scottie Scheffler — the No. 1 player in the world? He wasn’t so fortunate.

The man looking for his third-straight win this week stepped up to the tee next, hit a wedge on the 121-yard par-3 just below pin high and then watched it slowly spin back. And roll. And roll some more. It gained momentum and then — plunk. All the way down the hill and into the water.

Scheffler, back on the tee, was shocked. He smiled and shrugged. “What are ya gonna do?” he said, looking at caddie Ted Scott.

Analyst Brad Faxon noted that Scheffler needed his ball to carry about two or three more feet to stay up on top of the green, especially with the hole playing into the wind. Instead, Scheffler had to drop and chip on, and he missed his 13-footer for bogey.

“I think it’s a brilliant hole, by the way,” said analyst Brandel Chamblee. “It’s not meant to be a birdie hole today. You are meant to play it back … the hole location right up front teases these guys.”

Double bogeys happen in pro golf. But they don’t happen to Scheffer. At least not lately. He made a careless mistake on the par-4 18th on Friday when he three-putted from inside six feet. That was just his second double bogey of the year and first in 218 holes. Now, following his double on 15 on Saturday, he’d made two in 16 holes after playing the previous 217 holes without one.

In a way, Scheffler’s double on 15 was a reminder of just how impressive it was to go 218 holes without a double bogey. His wedge into the green looked great — “Yeah, this looks nice,” said on-course reporter Smylie Kaufman, when the ball reached it apex — and, as Faxon mentioned, it was just a couple of feet short of being perfect. Instead, it rolled all the way back and trickled into the water. Truly a game of inches.

Scheffler’s double dropped him to seven under and two shots off the lead, a lead he had previously shared up until he bogeyed the 13th.

A few minutes after Scheffler’s group finished the 15th hole, 36-hole leader Tony Finau came to the 15th tee. His next swing found the water as well.

“Fifteen is haunted today,” Dan Hicks said.

Josh Berhow

Golf.com Editor

As GOLF.com’s managing editor, Berhow handles the day-to-day and long-term planning of one of the sport’s most-read news and service websites. He spends most of his days writing, editing, planning and wondering if he’ll ever break 80. Before joining GOLF.com in 2015, he worked at newspapers in Minnesota and Iowa. A graduate of Minnesota State University in Mankato, Minn., he resides in the Twin Cities with his wife and two kids. You can reach him at joshua_berhow@golf.com.