(Photo credit: Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images)

Scottie Scheffler had a phenomenal 2024 season -- seven wins, including at The Masters Tournament, the Paris Olympics and the Tour Championship. And the first victory came at the Arnold Palmer Invitational last March.

He enters the tournament at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge this week in suburban Orlando as the defending champion. After a hand injury delayed his season start until the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in late January, Scheffler has appeared in three events, with two top-10 finishes.

So when he was asked Wednesday whether he needed a jump start on his season, the World No. 1 player largely scoffed.

'No. I'm here, ain't I? You know what I mean? It's always nice to play good, and I try to ride momentum from good rounds and good tournaments, and there's no better momentum than you can have than being able to show up tied for the lead on Sunday and have a great round and kind of put away the tournament and be able to coast down the last few holes,' Scheffler said. 'Do I feel like I need a jump start? No. Would I like one? Definitely. Yeah, why not.'

Scheffler has been idle since Feb. 16, when he shot a final-round 66 to finish in a T3 at The Genesis Invitational.

Now, Scheffler said that, despite shorter prep time due to the injury, he's ready to go for the season.

'I would say that I feel caught up,' the 28-year-old said. 'It was a really nice last couple weeks I had at home to get ready for this week. It was, not rushed to start Pebble, but it was definitely quicker than my offseason prep usually is, just by nature of the injury. So having a couple weeks at home after having a few weeks playing on the road, where I can continue to work out, continue to work on my body and get ready to come back out and play, it was definitely very helpful to have a couple weeks at home, for sure.'

At the Arnold Palmer last year, Scheffler finished at 15-under 273, five strokes ahead of Wyndham Clark. Scheffler started the fourth round tied with Ireland's Shane Lowry, but Scheffler's 66 left him alone at the top and Lowry in third after firing a 72.

Scheffler also won at Bay Hill in 2022, and he said he's looking forward to the challenge the course holds.

'I feel like if I'm in a good spot with my game,' he said. 'If my swing feels well then I should have a decent chance at winning the tournament. There's certain golf courses that I love to compete on with their history -- this being one of 'em. I'm definitely excited for this week. I'm excited to try to tackle this golf course again this year. It's typically one of the most brutal tests that we see all year.

'And this one's funny because I feel like if you came here and played a month later and the rough was shorter and the greens were soft it would feel like an easy golf course. But with the way they set it up for this tournament it's so brutally difficult that there's just such a drastic difference on this course between normal play and the way we play it. So it's just an interesting place to play and it challenges us in a variety of ways for sure.'

--Field Level Media