Frustration got the best of Scottie Scheffler during the first round of the Memorial, and he ended up taking it out on caddie Ted Scott … with cameras (and microphones) nearby.
Scheffler hit one in the water at the par-3 16th hole at Muirfield Village, and he immediately took issue with the pre-shot intelligence he got from Scott. Scheffler believed he hit his 7-iron pure, but his tee shot came up short and left, bouncing off the bank into the water.
“I never thought I was in the water; I don’t know what to do,” Scheffler could be heard saying, as he stood, perplexed, on the tee box. Scott replied, saying something, and a visibly annoyed Scheffler replied, “I can’t even hear you.”
Scottie Scheffler Criticizes Caddie Ted Scott for Wind Misread
The interaction was far from over, too. Scheffler continued to criticize Scott, insisting that Scott (and to a lesser degree, himself) misread the wind direction and speed.
“I feel like that was a good shot!” Scheffler said, as he marched toward the drop area. Scott could be heard agreeing, only for Scheffler to reply: “Now I’m in the water because (the wind) came in out of the right. Absolutely flushed a 7-iron, we get the wind wrong, and I’m in the water. I don’t think you understand how frustrating that was. That was a good shot. It really was. Flushed it, got the line — but (the) wind was hurting out of the left.”
Eventually, the duo got to the drop zone, and even as Scheffler prepared for that shot, he continued to lay into Scott.
“I don’t understand what I meant to do. I don’t understand. I really don’t,” Scheffler said. “It landed 5 yards short of the green, flushed it, because it’s in off of the left. Like there’s no way it could curve that much if the wind is helping. … I’m hitting good shots and dropping from hazards (because) we cannot get the wind right.”
Scheffler ended up making double bogey and finished his day at 1-over, tied for 33rd and six shots off the lead held by the quartet of Wyndham Clark, J.J. Spaun, Tommy Fleetwood and Ryan Gerard.
Scottie Scheffler Has Uncharacteristically Bad Approach Performance
Ultimately, Scheffler and Scott have one of the best relationships in the game — or at least it seems that way from afar. No duo has had more success in the last decade on the course. The outburst might have been a culmination of a frustrating day for Scheffler. He finished 67th out of 72 players in strokes gained approach, and he hit only seven of 18 greens in regulation.
Scheffler is a generational ball-striker, so that’s certainly worth monitoring over the weekend. He’s 15th on Tour in approach this season, which sounds good, of course, but consider this: Scheffler led the Tour in approach in each of the last three seasons.
Not only is the Memorial an opportunity to win another signature event, but it’s also a high-stakes tune-up for the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills.
Certainly, Scheffler getting his iron play in shape is far more important than one minor squabble with Scott.
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