ORLANDO, Fla. – Scottie Scheffler is entering the heart of a nostalgia tour that began at last year’s WM Phoenix Open and featured four victories in six PGA Tour starts, culminating with his triumph at the Masters.

Scheffler successfully defended his title at TPC Scottsdale last month and is off to a good start at Bay Hill, where he won his second title last year, with an opening 68. He finished the day three back of Jon Rahm, who recently supplanted Scheffler atop the world rankings.

“It's nice kind of getting all the memories and stuff out of the way early in the week. But it's also good having the experience on the golf course and knowing what it does throughout the week,” said Scheffler, who will also defend his title later this month at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. “It's definitely important and it's good to have success, but everybody starts at even.”

Given the forecast the next few days, Scheffler can also take some solace in having endured brutal conditions on the weekend last year at Bay Hill. Winds are expected to gust to 30 mph Friday and into Saturday.

“I appreciate the fact that this golf course is very challenging, and I feel like it's a place where I can just try and hang in there. That's what I did last year. I didn't play amazing for four days,” he said. “One of the guys I played a practice round with this week asked me what I did so well last year, and I just told 'em I survived.”