Scottie Scheffler seeking three-peat, Nick Taylor’s course record 60 and JT lurking among takeaways from the WM Phoenix Open

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Scottie Scheffler isn’t going to give up the WM Phoenix Open title without a fight.

The two-time defending champion fired a bogey-free 6-under 66 in the second round at TPC Scottsdale to vault into contention, four shots off the pace set by Andrew Novak and Nick Taylor. Asked whether he thinks he can win the title for a third straight time, something only Arnold Palmer has done in the tournament’s illustrious history, Scheffler said, “Yeah, I don’t see why not. Yeah, obviously I’d like to be a little bit closer to the lead, but still, four back out of now is not a bad place to be.”

He added: “I probably was just a bit too far away from the hole to make too many birdies, but bogey-free is always good.”

Scheffler earned his first PGA Tour victory at the 2022 WM Phoenix Open in a playoff over Patrick Cantlay and repeated by holding off Taylor and Jon Rahm. Scheffler opened with 2-under 69 and heads into the weekend at 8-under 134. This marks the 16th time in Scheffler’s last 23 PGA Tour starts that he’s in the top-10 through 36 holes.

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“I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing, plotting along and taking advantage of my opportunities,” he said. “The last two days I really haven’t played the back nine as well as I would like to. I haven’t really taken advantage of some of the scoring holes back there, so I’m looking to improve on that the next couple days.”

Here are four more things to know from the second round of the WM Phoenix Open.