Runner-up to Rory McIlroy at the Masters, Scheffler then lost a playoff to Matt Fitzpatrick at the RBC Heritage before finishing a distant second to Cameron Young at Doral.
"Last week my wife was like, 'Hey, Scottie, you're like the first guy in PGA Tour history to have three solo runner-ups in a row.' I'm like, 'Yeah, it's probably because the guy that was playing that good figured out a way to win one of those,'" Scheffler said ahead of Thursday's first round in Pennsylvania.
The string of secons haven't put much of a dent in his confidence going into the second major of the year.
Scheffler is fierce when it comes to competition, hates losing even in friendly matches with his caddie and still has come to appreciate that winning isn't always easy.
He has a firm hold on the No.1 world ranking despite not winning since his season debut in the California desert.
"You know you're playing good golf, and you'd love to get some wins," he said. "Finishing second hurts, but I think when you reflect and you're looking at things to work on, there's a lot less to clean up when you're finishing second than there is when you're finishing 30th."
Scheffler hasn't finished 30th or worse since August 2024.
To end that run of silver medals this week at Aronimink would allow him to join Brooks Koepka (2018-19) and Tiger Woods (1999-00 and 2006-07) as the only players to win back-to-back in the PGA Championship in stroke play.
But he also faces the strongest field of the four majors, with 98 of the top 100 in the world, which includes the last three players to beat him - McIlroy (No.2), Young (No.3) and Fitzpatrick (No.4).
McIlroy came up to Aronimink two weeks ago for a peek at the course he had not played since the BMW Championship in 2018, when it was so soft and mushy from rain that the event couldn't finish until Monday. The hope this week is for minimal rain and firm, dry conditions.
"For the most part, it should be a bit drier, which really brings out the character of the greens," McIlroy said. "The greens seem to be the big defence and the big talking point of the golf course."
McIlroy had his practice round cut short on Tuesday with a blister on his right toe that was causing some discomfort last week at the Truist Championship.
Not since Jordan Spieth in 2015 has anyone captured the first two majors of the season, and only McIlroy has a chance to do that. The majors have become his focus of late, especially now that he finally has the career grand slam from winning the Masters a year ago.
McIlroy and Spieth are in the same group for the first two rounds, along with Jon Rahm. Spieth lacks only the PGA Championship to complete the career slam.
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