Scottie Scheffler hits the water. Then some words follow
Scottie Scheffler says his swing was good.
But the next few shots weren’t there, leading the world No. 1 to come out on top in Thursday’s first round of the Memorial Championship — and many of his thoughts were picked up by the Golf Channel and PGA Tour Live microphones. The comments came from Muirfield Village Golf Club’s par-3 16th, where Scheffler’s tee shot found water on the left side of the green, despite what he believed to be good contact.
Then came the words. Most were heard from caddy Ted Scott, and the discussion focused on misjudging the wind.
“I never thought I was in the water,” Scheffler said from the tee box as Scott took the lead. “I don’t know what to do, I can’t hear a word you’re saying.
“I feel like that was a good shot,” Scheffler said as he started for the landing. “Now I’m in the water. Because it went in and out of the right. The 7-iron was perfect and we got the wind wrong, and I ended up in the water. I don’t think you understand how frustrating that is. I thought it was a good shot. It was. … Golly.”
“I liked that shot,” Scheffler said of the layup. “I don’t understand what I mean. I don’t understand. I really don’t understand. I mean, it was five yards short of the green, a 7-iron, because it went right. Like there’s no way it could bend. … It’s very frustrating. …
From the tee, Scheffler then hit 10 feet, and two-putted from there for double bogey. The conversation between Scheffler and Scott continued on the trip to the green, and briefly on its way. On the Golf Channel broadcast, commentator Curt Byrum said “sometimes being a good Tour caddy is being able to just take the abuse a player is going to give you, take the pieces that come at you. … And Teddy Scott has been there a million times.”
As for who is to blame, the caddy can advise, but the player, of course, calls the shots. Afterwards, a reporter asked Scheffler about his thoughts on the 16th.
“That’s just another great instrument, and the wind went from the bottom right to the right,” he said. “If it goes back to the right, that ball is probably where I hit my shot.” So I don’t really know what to do there other than try to hit a good shot, and then it’s disappointing when it doesn’t work, especially when it doesn’t work that way.
“I’d rather go left, not right there. All you can do is try to hit good shots. It can be very frustrating sometimes when you feel like you’re hitting good shots and then you go to the draw.”
Was Scheffler hitting a good shot on Thursday and not getting the results he expected?
“Yeah, it felt like that,” she said. “Yeah, the wind is hard to predict. It’s just hard to predict. If you get the heat then the greens are this firm – I mean, 12 is a good example, and, where you can’t – like, you have two or three yards where you can hold that green, especially with how strong they were.
“Eleven is also a good example because if I hit a 4-iron straight across, if I get to the top, I will go over the green in a difficult area.
“So there’s a lot to think about, and I think it’s even more challenging when the greens are in this company and the wind is unpredictable, especially on a day when the wind felt like it was going to be easy and it was going to be all day, that is – I think it shows how difficult the golf course is.”
After 16, Scheffler made 17 birdies and parred 18, and finished with a one-over 73, which was six behind the lead. For birdie, Scheffler caught a break when his second shot, from the right of the fairway bunker, landed in a favorable spot on the right side of the green – and from there, Scheffler got in.
“I had a good rest there,” Scheffler said. “That was fun. That was great. Good breaks are more fun than that – look, that’s the most frustrating thing about golf is that I have one line on the hole before that and I end up in the water. I hit that one short, and then you get a good bounce and I end up on the edge and it goes in. See, it was a very small bunker that I’m trying to touch high, I’m trying to touch it too high. You catch the green, and that one lands in the rough. above the basement, also dead, that basement, and ended up breaking one in. So you’re just like, okay.
“Yeah, what a game. I felt like I didn’t get anything this round, all of a sudden you get lucky and you’re like, okay, I’ll try to smile, it’s still hard.”
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