Scott thought Scheffler might withdraw from Players

Scheffler first felt his neck lock up after hitting a hard 3-wood into the 11th green that Friday at TPC Sawgrass. A hole later, he produced a tee shot that caught playing competitor Justin Thomas off guard – a wild finish where Scheffler grunted while his shoes squeaked and both feet shuffled more than usual, his right lifting off the ground as he nearly spun completely around.

“I audibly laughed out loud, like had to back off again because I was like, that’s the most ridiculous follow-through I’ve ever seen,” Thomas said. “I didn’t know that his neck was hurt, so I kind of felt bad after I found that out.”

Scheffler conceded: “I mean, it was pretty funny.”

While Scheffler ended up fighting through the neck discomfort, taking one more club and relying more on his hands, Scott was overly confident on Friday night that his player could finish the tournament. He called his wife and told her that he’d probably be home that weekend.

“I honestly didn’t know how he could play golf,” Scott said. “I mean, he couldn’t turn his head 2 degrees to the right.”

Scheffler made some key adjustments at Augusta National

Scheffler’s 5-under 67 to open play at the Masters was, as Scheffler admits, the best score he could’ve shot that day. After that round, Smith, Scheffler’s longtime instructor, asked his pupil, “How’d everything feel?”

Scheffler said he replied: “I cannot keep going another three days in this tournament with my swing feeling like this. We need to go figure something out.”

The fix turned out to be a simple grip adjustment, as Smith discovered that Scheffler’s left thumb had moved a quarter-inch up the shaft, changing his wrist angle, which altered Scheffler’s backswing.

After sliding his thumb back down, Scheffler immediately saw results. He hit just two shots, both feeling great, and headed home.

Then on Saturday, Scheffler had just played Nos. 10 and 11 in a combined 3 over when he asked Scott if he’d noticed anything about the putts Scheffler had just missed. Scott mentioned it looked like Scheffler’s ball was slightly back in his stance.

Scheffler moved it forward a touch, sank a 7-footer for par at the par-3 12th hole and then drained a long eagle putt at the par-5 13th to tie the lead.

Payne had quite the movie rec after arrest

The details of what happened that Friday morning in Louisville aren’t really discussed, but Payne does offer a bit of new information.

After being arrested, spending time in a jail cell and then somehow shooting 5-under 66 in the second round of the PGA Championship, Scheffler just wanted to relax that night and watch a movie.

Payne said he made a recommendation to Scheffler: “The Fugitive,” the 1993 thriller starring Harrison Ford.

According to Payne, Scheffler responded, “Wow, that might be a little too soon.”

Scheffler wanted to break his putter during Olympics final round

As Scheffler made the turn that Sunday in Paris, he was fuming. He’d just parred the par-5 ninth, his sixth straight par, and was falling further behind leader Jon Rahm.

And so, Scheffler wanted to take his frustrations out on his putter.

“Can I break it?” Scheffler asked Scott, as he went to hand his caddie the flatstick.

“Not yet,” Scott responded.

“I think I can putt better with my lob wedge,” Scheffler added.

“Don’t break it,” Scott said back.

“Kind of made a touch of a joke out of the situation,” Scheffler recalled during his sit-down for the doc, “but if he would’ve said it was OK to break it, I would’ve 100% snapped it over my knee right then and there.”

Scheffler then caught fire with four birdies in his first six holes on the back nine before stepping on the tee box at the par-3 16th hole. Scheffler was still trailing at that point, though Scott told his player to aim at a security guard standing behind the green, safely away from a tucked-yet-enticing flag.

Scheffler proceeded to stuff one.

“I remember handing him the club like, ‘C’mon, you didn’t really think I was going to aim at the security guard, did you?’” said Scheffler, who birdied that hole and the next as part of a closing, 9-under 62 that won him gold.
“I was so frustrated at the turn, I was ready to break a club because I thought I’d basically lost the tournament,” Scheffler said, “and a mere couple hours later, I’m standing on the podium with a gold medal.”