Some serious cracks are forming in Scottie Scheffler’s demeanour, after his outburst at the Memorial Tournament.
The world number one stuck it in the water on the 16th hole, before going on a minutes-long rant which didn’t end until he’d completed the hole. He snapped at his caddie, Ted Scott, saying he hit the perfect shot, but they got the wind wrong. “You don’t have any idea how frustrating that is” ranted Scheffler.
Compared to his own lofty standards, it’s been a disappointing season for Scheffler. His only win came at the first event of the year, and while he’s been at the top of leaderboards (he finished second three events in a row), he’s not been able to secure another victory since.
His swing looks off, and he’s had a poor attitude towards the media at times throughout the season. But this was by far the most explosive, and it’s a concerning sign after what Scott said about Scheffler’s attitude when they first joined forces.
Ted Scott considered not working with Scottie Scheffler because of his attitude
While Scheffler’s success over the last few years has put this reputation behind him, the American was known for his outbursts on the golf course. That led to Scott, a typically calm and composed man, to have reservations about working with Scheffler when he was first approached.
Bubba Watson’s former caddie explained why he was hesitant to work with Scheffler when he was first asked to work with him on last year’s edition of Netflix’s Full Swing.
Scott said, “I think Bubba and I had spent so much time together, we really weren’t growing anymore. So I was like, ‘I kind of just want to move on and do something else.’ Basically, a friend of mine approached me and said, ‘You’re about to receive a phone call from a really good player. This guy is really good. Like really good.’
“I had never really met Scottie other than that we played with him in the New Orleans tournament and I saw that he was kind of fiesty, you know? That was one of the questions that I asked him when he called me.
“I said, ‘I don’t know if I want to work for you because of your attitude.’ When I posed that question to him, he said, ‘That’s a fair question and I’m willing to work on it.’ All I need is a little bit of hope and I’m willing to get behind anybody. So I decided to take the job and here we are.”
Since working with Scott, those outbursts didn’t stop completely, but they are a less frequent occurrence. A lot of that can surely be put down to his winning, however.
This is has been Scheffler’s worst season for a number of years, so these tendencies creeping back into his game is not a good sign for his relationship with Scott.
Scottie Scheffler response to Ted Scott’s concerns about his attitude
Scheffler has been able to work on his attitude since partnering up with Scott. At the time, he admitted that he suffered with anger issues on the golf course, but he now has a healthier relationship with golf.
Speaking on Full Swing, he said, ““I used to fight anger issues. I used to get too frustrated. Golf was too important to me. That’s kind of where I placed my identity for a long time. I try not to change too much but I needed to change something.”
Scheffler has been the best player in the world going from success to success since Scott told him to work on his attitude, so it’s easier to stay composed out there.
It’s telling that the moment things start to get difficult once again, this version of Scheffler comes back out. It will be interesting to see if Scott is able to rein him in once again.
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