Tag: Scottie Scheffler

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PGA Tour

Scottie Scheffler Battling Back Tightness in First Round of the BMW Championship

Scottie Scheffler on the 17th hole of Castle Pines GC. First Round of the BMW Championship. (Image: Getty)
Scottie Scheffler on the 17th hole of Castle Pines GC. First Round of the BMW Championship. (Image: Getty)

Scottie Scheffler dealt with back problems during the first round of the BMW Championship on the PGA Tour. After a high draw on the Par-5 17th, Scheffler grabbed his back seemingly in pain. In the post-round interview, the Masters champion spoke about the back issues.

Scottie Scheffler: “I was laboring most of the day to get through the ball”

“With it [back] being a little bit tight, it was hard for me to get through it, and I was laboring most of the day to get through the ball. On 17 I was trying to hit a high draw, and that’s a shot where I’ve really got to use a big turn, big motion. Really just felt it a little bit. But other than that, all good. Maybe I hit a few too many balls yesterday or something. It was just a little sore. I’m sure I’ll get some ice on it and stuff and I’ll be totally fine tomorrow.”

Bad ball-striking perfomance from Scheffler

Scottie Scheffler leads the Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green for the season. In the first round of the BMW Championship though, he lost strokes to the field in SG: Tee-to-Green. This time his putting, which is normally Schefflers weak spot, saved his round. He holed over 100 feet of putts.

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PGA Tour

PGA Tour: The Race to the FedExCup Playoffs – Why Even a Victory Is Not Enough

PGA Tour: Davis Riley misses the playoffs despite winning a tournament. (Photo: Getty)

The Wyndham Championship marked the end of the 36-event regular season of the PGA Tour, determining the top 70 players who will advance to the FedExCup Playoffs. These Playoffs, consisting of three tournaments, begin with the FedEx St. Jude Championship and continue with the BMW Championship. Only the top 50 players from the St. Jude Championship will move on to the next stage, and this group will also earn spots in all Signature Events in 2025. The season then culminates at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, where the top 30 players will compete for the FedExCup title and a significant $25 million prize. This article takes a closer look at who secured their place, who missed out, and why even a tournament victory doesn’t always guarantee a spot in the Playoffs.

The Top 10 Players: Leading the Standings

Leading the charge into the Playoffs are the season’s standout performers, Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele, occupying the first and second spots, respectively. Following closely are Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa, and Wyndham Clark, all of whom have shown exceptional form throughout the year. Ludvig Aberg, making waves in his debut full season on the PGA Tour, impressively holds the sixth position. He is trailed by Sahith Theegala and Hideki Matsuyama. Perhaps the most unexpected presence in the top 10 is South Korea’s Sungjae Im, who clinched the ninth spot. Rounding out the elite group is Ireland’s Shane Lowry.

Notable Players Missing the Playoffs

Not surprisingly, Tiger Woods is absent from the Playoffs roster. The legendary golfer, who now selectively participates in Majors and his own Genesis Invitational, wrapped up the season in 220th place. For Woods, the result holds little consequence as his focus has long shifted to the bigger stages of the sport. Rickie Fowler, a recent father, also failed to make the top 70, finishing 106th, far from the qualifying mark. Europe’s Ryder Cup stalwart Nicolai Hojgaard, who played a pivotal role in Rome, finds himself on the outside looking in after finishing 81st in the standings.

Matt Kuchar’s remarkable streak of 17 consecutive Playoff appearances came to a halt this year, as he finished 103rd. Similarly, Kevin Kisner, who will once again lend his insights as an NBC commentator during the Playoffs, ended his campaign in 196th place.

The Davis Riley Scenario: When a Win Isn’t Enough

Davis Riley’s situation underscores the unforgiving nature of the FedExCup Playoffs qualification process. Despite claiming victory at the Charles Schwab Challenge, earning a hefty 500 FedExCup points, Riley narrowly missed the cut, finishing 71st—just one spot shy of advancing. This scenario highlights that a single win, no matter how significant, doesn’t guarantee a Playoff spot. A comparison with Sepp Straka, who has yet to secure a win in 2024, further illustrates this point. Straka’s consistency, particularly in the Signature Events, propelled him to 18th in the standings. His two top-five finishes at the RBC Heritage and the Memorial Tournament earned him more points than Riley’s lone victory.

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Panorama

What the Golf Stars Are Doing Off the Course at the Olympics 2024

Olympic Golf Stars in Paris. (Photo: Instagram.com/@scottiescheffler and @golfdigest)
Olympic Golf Stars in Paris. (Photo: Instagram.com/@scottiescheffler and @golfdigest)

Early childhood moulding: Bennett Scheffler is less than three months old and already a cosmopolitan. Because dad Scottie and mum Meredith have been taking their little boy, who was born on 8 May, with them almost everywhere ever since. Even to the Olympic Games 2024. Baby Bennett has been to the Louvre and made the Mona Lisa smile a little more, strolled along the banks of the Seine with his parents, watched the Olympic table tennis tournament and witnessed the Olympic comeback of exceptional gymnast Simone Biles. In short: an American in Paris.

 
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Ein Beitrag geteilt von Scottie Scheffler (@scottie.scheffler)

“It felt like we only saw a tenth of the museum. We were there for two hours, but I could have spent days looking at all the old paintings and reading the descriptions. I can get very interested in this kind of thing: The talent of the artists is absolutely stunning – and just great that their work has made it through time and survived.”

Scottie Scheffler about the visit to the Louvre
 
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Ein Beitrag geteilt von Olympic Golf (@olympicgolf)

Golf Olympics 2024: Olympians off the Course

Speaking of which, a lot of the golfing Olympians used the free time between the play-in rounds for excursions and visits to other sporting venues. Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy, for example, watched Rafael Nadal’s doubles appearance with Carlos Alcaraz, presumably the last appearance of the Spanish tennis hero and 14-time French Open winner at Stade Roland Garros; and in view of the snapshot from the stands, we can only hope that the expression on McIlroy’s wife Erica’s face is merely due to the snapshot. Hey guys, you’re in the city of love.

 
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Live Scores of Golf at the Olympics 2024
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Highlights Tours

Scottie Scheffler: “Toughest Nine Holes of My Career”

Scottie Scheffler at The Open Championship 2024 in Troon. (Photo: Getty)

Scottie Scheffler articulated what many of the remaining The Open Championship participants were likely thinking after Moving Day – except for Justin Rose, of course. “I can think of a couple days with some crazy high winds that may have been more challenging, but overall the back nine, I think that was probably the hardest nine holes that I’ll ever play,” said the world number one, before slightly revising his statement: “I shouldn’t say ever. Who knows what the next few Opens will bring? But it’s definitely the hardest that I’ve played to this point in my career.”

The Open Championship 2024 – All Scores

The two-time Masters champion held his own with an even-par round, hitting 13 out of 14 fairways. However, his putter once again let him down, failing to capitalize even from short distances. If he can manage to improve this aspect today, the third major of the year remains within reach.

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Ein Beitrag geteilt von Golf Digest (@golfdigest)

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Equipment

With TaylorMade: Scottie Scheffler’s Unbeatable Stats on the Green

Scottie Scheffler took a liking to the Mallett putter from TaylorMade. (Photo: Getty)
Scottie Scheffler took a liking to the Mallett putter from TaylorMade. (Photo: Getty)

An incredible run of success began for Scottie Scheffler at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March 2024. In just ten starts on the PGA Tour, the 28-year-old recorded six victories and immortalized himself among the most successful players in the history of the PGA Tour. Not only a second Masters title, but also a title defense at the Players Championship have graced his resume since then.

He used a new putter for the first time at the Arnold Palmer Invitational: Scheffler opted for the TaylorMade Spider Tour X putter. With this model, a Mallett putter, the world number 1 has since been more successful than ever before, as his statistics on and around the green show.

Scottie Scheffler: With TaylorMade to birdie rain

Scottie Scheffler played his way to his six victories in the last few months with a total of 121 birdies, 27 of which he made in the final rounds of the tournaments. He made 28 birdies from over 15 feet, 11 from over 20 feet and six from over 30 feet. Figures that prove that the world number one has nerves of steel: seven times in the six tournaments he achieved a birdie series of three birdies or more.

He usually holed his longest birdie putts from 30 t0 40 feet. In the third round of the US Masters, he holed twice from this distance for birdies, putting his strong competitors under real pressure. Another statement at the first major of the year: an eagle putt from 31 feet.

However, Scottie Scheffler converted his longest birdie putt to date at his first tournament with the TaylorMade Spider Tour X putter, at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He converted the birdie from almost 45 feet on the 15th hole of the second round.

While Scottie Scheffler excelled with his long putts, he also frequently made it easy for himself thanks to his precise approaches. He often drove the ball off the fairway and onto the stick or made long putts close to the hole. For example, at his last triumph, the Travelers Championship, he put the ball from 132 yards directly on the 18th hole of the Moving Day.

The TaylorMade Spider Tour X putter

Scottie Scheffler played a blade putter for most of his career. He played his first rounds with a Mallett putter, the model with the significantly larger club head, in 2023, but returned to the familiar blade head. TaylorMade then developed a new prototype that would be perfectly matched to Scheffler’s putting. After various adjustments, Scottie Scheffler finally found the perfect model in the TaylorMade Spider Tour X putter for a winning streak that hardly any golfer had achieved before.

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Live

World Golf Ranking: Scottie Scheffler Maintains Top Position Among Americans

World Golf Ranking: Scottie Scheffler (Image: Getty)
World Golf Ranking: Scottie Scheffler (Image: Getty)

The World Golf Ranking this week has presented some interesting shifts among the American players.

Scottie Scheffler continues to hold the top spot as the best American golfer, ranked at number 1 with no change from last week. Scheffler’s average points remain solid. On the other hand, Xander Schauffele stays steady at position 3.

See the complete Official World Golf Ranking here

World Golf Ranking: Americans in Focus

Wyndham Clark has seen a slight drop, moving from 4th to 5th place in the World Golf Ranking. Collin Morikawa holds his ground at position 6 with no change from the previous week. Patrick Cantlay remains 8th, maintaining his previous week’s position and average points.

World Golf Ranking: Movement in the Top 10

Within the Top 10 of the World Golf Ranking, Scottie Scheffler remains at number 1. Rory McIlroy from Northern Ireland stays in 2nd place. Notable movements include Ludvig Aberg from Sweden, who has improved from 5th to 4th place. Meanwhile, Jon Rahm from Spain holds steady at 10th place. The rest of the top players, including Viktor Hovland at 7th position, exhibit stability in their rankings.

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Live

World Golf Ranking: Tyrrell Hatton Gains One Position

World Golf Ranking: Tyrrell Hatton (Image: Getty)
World Golf Ranking: Tyrrell Hatton (Image: Getty)

While Tyrrell Hatton gains one position, Rory McIlroy remains the highest-ranked british player, holding steady at position 2. Tommy Fleetwood is the highest-ranked english player at eleventh position.  Meanwhile, fellow Brit Matt Fitzpatrick remains at position 20 without any changes from the previous week.

See the complete Official World Golf Ranking here

World Golf Ranking Updates for Other British Players

Aaron Rai has improved his standing, currently at position 53, moving up six positions. Tyrrell Hatton improved his ranking from the 23rd to the 22nd position. Robert MacIntyre, one of the prominent Scottish golfers, is placed at 44.

World Golf Ranking Top-10 Overview

Scottie Scheffler continues to dominate the World Golf Ranking, retaining his top spot. There have been no changes in the positions of Rory McIlroy (2nd) and Xander Schauffele (3rd). Ludvig Aberg has moved up to 4th, displacing Wyndham Clark, who is now 5th. The remaining positions in the top-10, including Collin Morikawa (6th), Viktor Hovland (7th), Patrick Cantlay (8th), Bryson DeChambeau (9th), and Jon Rahm (10th), have shown no movement this week.

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Live

World Golf Ranking: Scottie Scheffler Remains Front Runner – Wyndham Clark Overtakes Aberg

Despite not playing at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, Scottie Scheffler remains the leader of the World Golf Ranking. (Source: Getty)
Despite not playing at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, Scottie Scheffler remains the leader of the World Golf Ranking. (Source: Getty)

In this week’s World Golf Ranking, Scottie Scheffler continues to lead as the highest-ranking American player. Scheffler remains in the top spot with an average point score of 17.84, showing no change from last week.

Xander Schauffele holds the position as the second-best American player, retaining third place in the ranking with an average of 8.9 points, also showing no change from last week.

See the complete Official World Golf Ranking here

Notable American Players in the World Golf Ranking

Wyndham Clark has moved up to fourth place, from fifth last week. Collin Morikawa continues his rise, now ranking sixth, moving up one spot from last week’s seventh position. Patrick Cantlay maintains his position in the eighth rank. Akshay Bhatia clamied the second place at the Rocket Mortgage Classic and improved his ranking position from 29 to 25.

Top 10 in the World Golf Ranking

Scottie Scheffler remains the leader in the World Golf Ranking. Rory McIlroy is steady in second place. Xander Schauffele, as previously mentioned, stays at third. Ludvig Aberg has dropped one position from fourth to fifth. Viktor Hovland also sees a slight drop, moving from sixth to seventh. Jon Rahm holds steady at tenth. The notable shifts in the top ten include Wyndham Clark rising to fourth and Collin Morikawa climbing to sixth.

Player NameCurrent RankLast Week Rank Points
Scottie Scheffler11802,7
Xander Schauffele33422,2
Wyndham Clark45305,5
Collin Morikawa67253,2
Patrick Cantlay88210,6
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Highlights Tours

Scheffler-Caddie’s Prize Money Trumps 80 Percent of Tour Players

Ted Scott, Scottie Scheffler's caddie, is one of the PGA Tour's top earners. (Photo: Getty)
Ted Scott, Scottie Scheffler's caddie, is one of the PGA Tour's top earners. (Photo: Getty)

Scottie Scheffler is dominating this year on the PGA Tour, raking in million-dollar prize money after million-dollar prize money. In 15 tournament appearances, the world number one won his sixth title and completed his 13th (!) top 10 finish at last week’s Travelers Championship. This brings Scheffler’s prize money in the 2024 calendar year alone to around 25.9 million euros (27.7 million US dollars). His caddie Ted Scott also benefits from this: with a ten percent share of prize money for Tour victories and seven percent for top-10 finishes, the usual shares on Tour, Scott even outperforms almost 80 percent of Tour players.

PGA Tour: Ted Scott with more prize money than Spieth, Fowler & Co.

On the PGA Tour, caddies usually receive a fixed share of the player’s prize money, which is based on their ranking: Ten percent for a win, seven percent for the top 10 and five percent for making the cut. With these percentages, Ted Scott, Scottie Scheffler’s caddie, would receive prize money of around 2.46 million euros (2.63 million US dollars) in this calendar year alone. That would not only be almost a million euros more than the Tour average, but also more prize money than 80 percent of the Tour players. Ted Scott would be ranked 46th out of 232 players with this prize money. The caddie is ahead of well-known players such as Jordan Spieth (€2.34 million), Adam Scott (€1.56 million) and Rickie Fowler (€1.02 million).

Scottie Scheffler understandably holds Ted Scott in high esteem and credits him with a large part of his impressive successes. The collaboration almost never came to fruition: After 15 intensive years at Bubba Watson’s side, the caddie actually wanted to work more as a golf instructor again. Then came the call from Scottie Scheffler. After careful consideration, Scott accepted the offer from the best golfer in the world at the time and, almost two years later, is unlikely to regret his decision.

Career prize money on the PGA Tour: Scottie Scheffler already in fifth place and on course to set a record

By winning the Travelers Championship 2024, Scottie Scheffler not only achieved his sixth victory on the PGA Tour this calendar year, but also leapt to seventh place in the career prize money list (€65.7 million). Scheffler celebrated his 28th birthday a few days ago and, considering his age, is well on the way to climbing further up the rankings. Vijay Singh, Jim Furyk and Dustin Johnson and the top three of Rory McIlroy (€84.3 million), Phil Mickelson (€90.4 million) and Tiger Woods (€113.1 million) are currently ahead of him. Scheffler is also well on his way to setting the record for the highest prize money in a season on the PGA Tour.

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PGA Tour

Chaos: Climate Activists Interrupt the Last Minutes of the PGA Tour Final Round

The five troublemakers were overpowered right on the green. (Photo: Getty)
The five troublemakers were overpowered right on the green. (Photo: Getty)

The final round of the Travelers Championship 2024 could hardly have been more exciting: Tom Kim and Scottie Scheffler, both in the final flight, battled it out for the PGA Tour victory. Scottie Scheffler had a one-stroke lead on the 18th hole, so Tom Kim had to finish the hole with one stroke less than Scheffler to at least force a play-off. Kim managed the approach perfectly, increasing his chances of a birdie. A final on the 18th green could hardly have been more exciting. Just as Scottie Scheffler was about to putt, however, chaos broke out on the green: Climate protesters stormed the scene, causing stunned faces.

Protesters interrupt the PGA Tour final round

Surrounded by hundreds of spectators, Scottie Scheffler, Tom Kim and Akshay Bhatia, the third player in the flight, were in full focus on the 18th green of the TPC River Highlands. It was in Scottie Scheffler’s hands to finish the tournament as the winner when chaos broke out. A total of five protesters stormed the green from different directions to draw attention to climate change. The local police reacted with lightning speed and overpowered them. The three players and their caddies stood in the middle of it all.

Nobody can say exactly how much the situation influenced the players. Would Scottie Scheffler have holed out for birdie and won outright? Would Tom Kim have had a better focus in the subsequent play-off, which he forced thanks to a birdie, and not lost the first hole straight away?

Tom Kim: “It’s really hard to see”

After the round, Tom Kim reveals that the situation was definitely weighing on him. “The security guards were tackling people and people were getting arrested, like it’s just, it’s really hard to see nowadays,” Kim said. “… It kind of felt like it took my mind off of the moment and just kind of realized what was happening and obviously even though those people did something bad, you still don’t want them to get hurt … the police are trying to protect the players and stuff, I get it, but you still don’t want people to get hurt and I think it just kind of personally just took my mind away from golf a little bit and worried about something else.”

Behind the protest were demonstrators from the radical environmental movement “Extinction Rebellion”, who took a lightning strike on the Moving Day of the Travelers Championship as the reason for their action: “We are all watching the climate catastrophe unfold at warp speed. Our relatively mild disruption of the Travelers Championship calls attention to nature’s much more severe and long-lasting disruptions,” said Miles Grant, a spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion, in a statement.