To have a good time Scottie Scheffler’s dominant 2024 season, the PGA Tour launched an hour-long documentary on Monday morning.
The doc, referred to as “Scottie 24” and produced by PGATour.com’s Sean Martin, chronicles Scheffler’s wild yr, which included 9 wins (most notably his second Masters title and an Olympic gold medal), over $63 million in on-course earnings and bonuses, placing struggles, and a surprising arrest in the course of the PGA Championship in Might.
Amongst these interviewed had been Scheffler; Scheffler’s caddie, Ted Scott; Scheffler’s coaches Randy Smith, Phil Kenyon and Brad Payne; TV analysts Trevor Immelman, Smylie Kaufman and Brandel Chamblee; and PGA Tour gamers reminiscent of Sam Burns, Collin Morikawa, Tom Kim and Tiger Woods.
The doc, now out there on the PGA Tour’s YouTube channel, may even air on Golf Channel on Jan. 1 at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Listed here are 5 of the largest revelations from it:
Scheffler’s placing struggles affected him greater than he led on
Scheffler’s first win of the yr got here on the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March. Earlier than that, nonetheless, he hadn’t received an official PGA Tour occasion because the earlier yr’s Gamers Championship.
“These losses, they harm so much,” Scheffler says of his first 5 begins of the yr, which included 4 top-10s.
Nevertheless it was the placing struggles that gnawed at him probably the most.
“Each interview that he obtained into was, ‘Let’s discuss your placing,’ and it was day after day after day,” mentioned Payne, Scheffler’s psychological coach. “And he’s engaged on it, and he’s very pissed off. We sat down round their dinner desk, and I’m like, ‘Buddy, how ya doin’?’ And he mentioned, ‘I don’t assume I’m doing nicely.’”
After Payne’s quote, Scheffler is proven chucking a golf ball into the woods at Riviera.
Scheffler’s greatest pal on Tour, Burns, later talks about how he and Scheffler would work on their placing inside their rental properties throughout match weeks.
“[Our wives] would go to mattress, and we might keep up placing,” Burns mentioned.
After the Genesis Invitational, Scheffler would famously swap to a mallet putter, a transfer that might spark his record-breaking yr.
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA – MARCH 15: Scottie Scheffler hits a tee shot on the twelfth gap in the course of the second spherical of THE PLAYERS Championship at Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on March 15, 2024 in Ponte Vedra Seashore, Florida. (Photograph by Ben Jared/PGA TOUR through Getty Pictures)
Scott thought Scheffler may withdraw from Gamers
Scheffler first felt his neck lock up after hitting a tough 3-wood into the eleventh inexperienced that Friday at TPC Sawgrass. A gap later, he produced a tee shot that caught enjoying competitor Justin Thomas off guard – a wild end the place Scheffler grunted whereas his sneakers squeaked and each toes shuffled greater than regular, his proper lifting off the bottom as he almost spun utterly round.
“I audibly laughed out loud, like needed to again off once more as a result of I used to be like, that’s probably the most ridiculous follow-through I’ve ever seen,” Thomas mentioned. “I didn’t know that his neck was harm, so I type of felt dangerous after I discovered that out.”
Scheffler conceded: “I imply, it was fairly humorous.”
Whereas Scheffler ended up preventing by way of the neck discomfort, taking another membership and relying extra on his palms, Scott was overly assured on Friday night time that his participant may end the match. He referred to as his spouse and informed her that he’d most likely be house that weekend.
“I truthfully didn’t understand how he may play golf,” Scott mentioned. “I imply, he couldn’t flip his head 2 levels to the fitting.”
Scheffler made some key changes at Augusta Nationwide
Scheffler’s 5-under 67 to open play on the Masters was, as Scheffler admits, the perfect rating he may’ve shot that day. After that spherical, Smith, Scheffler’s longtime teacher, requested his pupil, “How’d every part really feel?”
Scheffler mentioned he replied: “I can’t maintain going one other three days on this match with my swing feeling like this. We have to go determine one thing out.”
The repair turned out to be a easy grip adjustment, as Smith found that Scheffler’s left thumb had moved a quarter-inch up the shaft, altering his wrist angle, which altered Scheffler’s backswing.
After sliding his thumb again down, Scheffler instantly noticed outcomes. He hit simply two pictures, each feeling nice, and headed house.
Then on Saturday, Scheffler had simply performed Nos. 10 and 11 in a mixed 3 over when he requested Scott if he’d observed something in regards to the putts Scheffler had simply missed. Scott talked about it seemed like Scheffler’s ball was barely again in his stance.
Scheffler moved it ahead a contact, sank a 7-footer for par on the par-3 twelfth gap after which drained an extended eagle putt on the par-5 thirteenth to tie the lead.
LOUISVILLE, KY – MAY 17: PGA golfer Scottie Scheffler following his arrest on Friday morning has Louisville cops as his safety as he walks the ninth gap on Might 17, 2024, in the course of the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Membership in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photograph by Brian Spurlock/Icon Sportswire through Getty Pictures)
Icon Sportswire through Getty Pictures
Payne had fairly the film rec after arrest
The small print of what occurred that Friday morning in Louisville aren’t actually mentioned, however Payne does supply a bit of recent info.
After being arrested, spending time in a jail cell after which in some way capturing 5-under 66 within the second spherical of the PGA Championship, Scheffler simply wished to loosen up that night time and watch a film.
Payne mentioned he made a suggestion to Scheffler: “The Fugitive,” the 1993 thriller starring Harrison Ford.
In accordance with Payne, Scheffler responded, “Wow, that is perhaps just a little too quickly.”
Paris , France – 4 August 2024; An emotional Scottie Scheffler of Workforce United States on the rostrum after profitable the boys’s particular person stroke play last spherical at Le Golf Nationwide in the course of the 2024 Paris Summer season Olympic Video games in Paris, France. (Photograph By Brendan Moran/Sportsfile through Getty Pictures)
Sportsfile through Getty Pictures
Scheffler wished to interrupt his putter throughout Olympics last spherical
As Scheffler made the flip that Sunday in Paris, he was fuming. He’d simply parred the par-5 ninth, his sixth straight par, and was falling additional behind chief Jon Rahm.
And so, Scheffler wished to take his frustrations out on his putter.
“Can I break it?” Scheffler requested Scott, as he went handy his caddie the flatstick.
“Not but,” Scott responded.
“I believe I can putt higher with my lob wedge,” Scheffler added.
“Don’t break it,” Scott mentioned again.
“Form of made a contact of a joke out of the state of affairs,” Scheffler recalled throughout his sit-down for the doc, “but when he would’ve mentioned it was OK to interrupt it, I’d’ve 100% snapped it over my knee proper then and there.”
Scheffler then caught fireplace with 4 birdies in his first six holes on the again 9 earlier than stepping on the tee field on the par-3 sixteenth gap. Scheffler was nonetheless trailing at that time, although Scott informed his participant to purpose at a safety guard standing behind the inexperienced, safely away from a tucked-yet-enticing flag.
Scheffler proceeded to stuff one.
“I keep in mind handing him the membership like, ‘C’mon, you didn’t actually assume I used to be going to purpose on the safety guard, did you?’” mentioned Scheffler, who birdied that gap and the subsequent as a part of a closing, 9-under 62 that received him gold.
“I used to be so pissed off on the flip, I used to be prepared to interrupt a membership as a result of I assumed I’d mainly misplaced the match,” Scheffler mentioned, “and a mere couple hours later, I’m standing on the rostrum with a gold medal.”
