PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Scottie Scheffler felt pissed off sitting at dwelling for 2 tournaments he usually performs whereas recovering from glass puncturing the the palm of his proper hand whereas making ravioli. A giant a part of him was grateful the damage wasn’t worse.
Scheffler went into element Tuesday about how he injured his hand making Christmas dinner, and the way he practiced arduous early final week in chilly climate in Dallas to really feel assured he wasn’t returning to the PGA Tour too quickly.
He makes his season debut on the AT&T Pebble Seaside Professional-Am, the second $20 million signature occasion with an 80-man discipline, together with novice companions for the opening two rounds at Pebble Seaside and Spyglass Hill.
Scheffler performed Cypress Level on Monday and Pebble Seaside on Tuesday, with out a bandage and swinging as freely as ever.
As for the fateful dinner?
Scheffler mentioned he and his household wished to make ravioli from scratch, so that they rolled the dough however have been in a rental home and did not have the proper instruments to chop the pasta. He discovered a wine glass, and that is when the difficulty started.
“I had my hand on high and it broke,” he mentioned. “I’ve heard nothing however horror tales since this occurred about wine glasses, so watch out. … It broke and the stem type of acquired me within the hand. I can not stay in a bubble, like I’ve acquired to stay my life and accidents occur.
“It might have been lots worse,” he mentioned. “I truly talked to anyone who did the very same factor and the stem went straight by their hand. It’s a type of offers the place instantly after it occurred I used to be mad at myself as a result of I used to be like, ‘Gosh, that’s so silly.’ However you simply do not give it some thought while you’re within the second.”
It was one of many few errors Scheffler made all 12 months.
Rory McIlroy, in his 18th full season as a professional, mentioned Scheffler stood out in 2024 past his seven PGA Tour titles, his second inexperienced jacket and the Olympic gold medal.
“I’ve by no means — that is anybody, that is Tiger, that is within the historical past of golf — I do not suppose I’ve ever seen a golfer play as many bogey-free rounds as Scottie,” McIlroy mentioned. “He simply would not make errors. He performs the proper shot on the proper time over and over and over.”
McIlroy had one other response when requested what he thought when heard the information of Scheffler struggling the damage whereas getting ready dinner. He jokingly replied, “I feel he made sufficient cash to rent a chef. It is like, ‘Why are cooking your self?’”
“I’ve acquired a chef. Her identify’s Meredith,” Scheffler mentioned with amusing, referring to his spouse. “She’s fairly cute.”
Scheffler had a tiny, clear bandage over the spot the place he had surgical procedure to take away the shards of glass — higher palm, proper beneath the center finger, and that is as demonstrative as he acquired.
He needed to miss The Sentry at Kapalua, a match he enjoys as a result of it permits him to shake off no matter rust he may need gathered over the vacations.
He missed The American Categorical within the California desert, one other match he enjoys enjoying as a result of it has good climate and provides him an indicator of his sport. Palm Springs is about birdies, not his greatest model of golf.
“Lacking these occasions is just not enjoyable,” Scheffler mentioned.
He watched extra golf than common, together with a bundle of video of his wins that permit him observe what he was pondering and feeling through the course of the tournaments. He additionally watched the tournaments he was lacking.
“It was positively nonetheless irritating watching golf on TV and never having the ability to play,” he mentioned.
Scheffler did not determine till Friday to enter Pebble Seaside. He mentioned he made an effort to hit a number of golf balls early final week, eager to push himself arduous to verify there have been no points when he acquired to a match.
“Tried to work out a few of that soreness and the scar tissue and stuff that goes in there after surgical procedure,” he mentioned. “So I attempted to push myself fairly arduous within the chilly final week and it continued to get higher and higher every day. So figured I would as welcome again out and begin enjoying.”
The arduous half is matching what he did final season, essentially the most anybody had received on the PGA Tour since Tiger Woods received seven instances in 2007.
Lacking from Pebble Seaside is Xander Schauffele, the PGA and British Open champion who’s resting a rib damage. However the discipline is as stacked because it has been all 12 months, and for the primary time consists of golf’s most dominant participant.
“It is just a little bizarre making it this late within the 12 months,” he mentioned. “However yeah, good to be again.”
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
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