As the world’s number one player and defending Masters champion, he gets to decide the menu. And kudos to Scheffler for trying to poke fun at himself, even though the hand accident he suffered over Christmas preparing ravioli was anything but hilarious.
Long story short, Scottie cuts himself with glass that needs surgery, and as a byproduct he gets sidelined for a month and two tournaments.
“I would say that I feel very prepared for this golf tournament. This is definitely the most prepared that I’ve felt all year,” Scheffler told reporters during the press briefing at August National on Tuesday. “A lot of the talks in the offseason and firming up the throttle on the golf cart at Pebble [Beach, his season opener in 2025] made it seem like I was coming off a generous amount of downtime, which was a bit disorienting.”
“That felt different. Typically, in the offseason, I’m really looking forward to being able to get on the course and not really test out but show off in some way the things I’ve put so much effort into and, in my opinion, improved upon. There is a lot of excitement that surrounds going out and trying out the things that you’ve worked on.
Once you get injured, this offseason is a different feeling than most people experience over the past couple of years. Overall, I do feel that this is the most prepared that I have ever felt going into any event this year, and I am very much ready for the tournament to start.”
Scheffler, 28, is coming off a season that made him the PGA Tour Player of the Year, with wins at the Players, Masters, Tour Championship, and Hero World Challenge, where he earned unofficial gold medals for the Olympics. Under the guise of claw putting, he won the latter event in early December after employing a new grip from shorter distances.
Subsequently, Scheffler ran into some trouble, forcing him to miss the season-opening Sentry and the American Express Championship.
In six events, Scheffler managed to secure a second place a fortnight ago at the Texas Children’s Houston Open, where he carded an impressive 62 in the second round, placing him in the top ten for three events over the season.
He seems to hint at putting Scheffler’s potential frustration on full display at times, but he did struggle with the putt last season, so the signs of frustration make sense. He also noted not being a final day contender during his two pre-Masters victories, the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Players.
“It is pretty clear that you are doing the same thing again and again expecting different results, but it is also the definition of insanity.”
“That statement is unfortunately true and is a concrete reason why this sport is a patience test we graciously choose to put ourselves through.”
Scheffler took the weekend off, opting for lighter practice on the day prior to the first event. He was playing with his mom, Diane, who is a past champion and gets to enjoy these goodies due to her status.
Since the weather cancelled practice on Monday, Scheffler played nine holes on Tuesday and has another nine scheduled for Wednesday before the tournament starts on Thursday. He will start at 10:15 am with Justin Thomas and U.S. Amateur champion Jose Luis Ballester.
