PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA | Until last week, it was the putting thing that Scottie Scheffler had to cope with, answering questions about why he didn’t make more putts while keeping a lid on the frustration bubbling just below the surface.
Scheffler destroyed that narrative with his Sunday performance at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, winning in runaway style while doing his best work on the Bay Hill greens.
With that figurative pain in the neck dispatched, Scheffler found himself dealing with a literal pain in the neck Friday morning at the Players Championship, a malady that arrived suddenly as his second round was unfolding in the soft Florida morning.
After making a birdie on the par-4 10th hole to start his day, Scheffler felt something grab as he hit his second shot on the par-5 11th hole, and suddenly a jolt went through the TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course as questions about the physical condition of the world No. 1 rippled across the property.
Behind the 14th tee, Scheffler was seen getting treatment from a therapist. His swing took on a slightly less aggressive motion and, from the way Scheffler tried to stretch the discomfort away, it was evident he didn’t feel right.
Players are allowed to receive treatment on the course and, despite having the honor on the 14th tee, Scheffler allowed playing companions Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler to tee off before him while the therapist worked on him.
The effect seemingly was minimal considering Scheffler still managed to piece together a 3-under-par 69 on Friday, putting him at 8-under par through 36 holes. Even six strokes behind leader Wyndham Clark, Scheffler casts a menacing presence considering he has shot below par in all 25 competitive rounds he has played this year.
“It speaks to him,” Thomas said. “Somebody like Scottie, he probably just viewed it as a challenge, to see how I can get it around here and get it to the house and get some rest and feel better for the weekend and he did that. It didn’t look very comfortable, but he’ll be fine.”
Speaking to a PGA Tour official after the round before going to get treatment, Scheffler indicated the problem happened without warning.
“I hit a shot on my second hole today and I felt a little something in my neck, and then I tried to hit my tee shot on 12, and that’s when I could barely get the club back,” Scheffler said.
“So, I got some treatment, maybe it loosened up a tiny bit, but most of the day I was pretty much laboring to get the club somehow away from me.”
Fowler was impressed by what he saw from Scheffler.
“He was just grinding it out,” Fowler said.
Scheffler made five birdies and two bogeys and ranks among the top 10 in strokes gained off the tee and approach to the green through the first two rounds, the neck issue not appreciably changing his performance.
“I did enough I felt like today to keep myself somewhat in the tournament, and so that’s really all I could ask for,” Scheffler said.
“The way I was getting around the course, the way my neck was feeling, I didn’t know if I was going to be able to continue playing, so yeah, good fight out there.”
“The way I was getting around the course, the way my neck was feeling, I didn’t know if I was going to be able to continue playing, so yeah, good fight out there.”– Scottie Scheffler
Before the Players Championship began, Thomas commented that he was looking forward to watching Scheffler up close, given the exceptional run of play that has stretched over two seasons.
Thomas is a former world No. 1 who understands the challenge of maintaining such a high level of play. Scheffler, Thomas suggested, has made it look almost routine.
“This is no insult or disrespect in any way, but it’s boring golf. He hits the fairways; he hits the greens; he never puts himself in a position to make very many bogeys. He takes advantage of the par-5s,” Thomas said.
“He does all the things you should do. All the things that great players do when they are playing well. He’s one of those guys who seem like he can’t shoot worse than 4- or 5-under every time he plays.”
Even when his neck hurts.