Copyright Essentially Sports
Golf’s calmest achiever just joined its most relentless one. At El Cardonal, as waves crashed along the Los Cabos coastline, Matti Schmid went about his business—36 holes, zero bogeys, and one stat that now ties him with Scottie Scheffler. No celebration. No roar. Just the sound of pure, measured golf. Through the first two rounds of the 2025 World Wide Technology Championship, Schmid carded 64 and 63 to sit 17-under, one clear of Nick Dunlap and Sami Välimäki. The 27-year-old German also shared the bogey-free mark with Chad Ramey, who matched his clean card through 36 holes. What makes the feat special isn’t just the number; it’s him matching golf’s best right now, and that too in #1’s style itself. “I kept life pretty stress-free out there today,” Schmid said after his second round. This calm tone defined his play. Fourteen fairways hit. Only one green was missed. A 30-foot eagle on the par-5 18th that broke six feet across the slope. Every stroke looked deliberate. Even an illness earlier in the week couldn’t shake his focus. But this isn’t a random hot streak. Schmid’s consistency has been building for years. ADVERTISEMENT He turned pro in 2021 after back-to-back European Amateur titles and soon earned Rookie of the Year honors on the European Tour. Since then, he’s made 78 starts and more than $3.4 million on the PGA Tour, collecting nine top-10s but still chasing that first win. At the 2025 Charles Schwab Challenge, he came within one stroke of victory, chipping in for birdie on 72 before Ben Griffin’s clutch par sealed it. That near-miss earned Schmid over $1 million and reminded everyone that quiet precision can pressure the best. ADVERTISEMENT Now, the same qualities place him beside golf’s top names. Scheffler, meanwhile, continues to set impossible standards—six titles in the 2024-25 season, major wins at the Masters, the PGA Championship, and The Open, and more than $26.5 million in earnings. Yet even his bogey-free runs define part of his legend. Analysts recently noted how Scottie Scheffler’s clean cards often mark his most dominant weeks, putting Schmid’s milestone into rare company. Read Top Stories First From EssentiallySports Click here and check box next to EssentiallySports ADVERTISEMENT The quiet counterpart to Scottie Scheffler Schmid and Scheffler play the same game but live in different worlds. One is golf’s global superstar, the other a quiet craftsman trying to turn potential into proof. Yet both share an ability that analytics now call golf’s ultimate edge—consistency. “We all know how big those [Signature Events] are… I want to play the best courses against the best players,” Schmid said of his FedExCup goal. That hunger drives his calm. Ranked 70th entering the week, Schmid needs a strong finish to reach the top 60 and qualify for next year’s $20 million Signature Events. So far, he’s doing more than surviving—he’s setting statistical standards. With a Proximity-to-Hole ranking of 31st and a Birdie-or-Better rate of 32nd on Tour, he’s proving that control and precision can be just as dangerous as power. ADVERTISEMENT Modern golf now values steadiness as much as spectacle, and Schmid embodies that shift. His five bogey-free 36-hole stretches since 2022 show mastery of patience and strategy. Scheffler achieves it through dominance, while Schmid achieves it through discipline. As the weekend unfolds at El Cardonal, he’s chasing his first win—and even if it doesn’t come, matching Scheffler’s record ensures his quiet excellence won’t go unnoticed.
