ATLANTA – Scottie Scheffler didn’t reveal until the end of the BMW Championship that he was battling hand, foot and mouth disease, an illness that caused painful sores on his hands and throat.
Less than a week later, Scheffler said he still has a sore throat but that, overall, he feels “really good.”
“I’m at like 95%,” he said Wednesday at East Lake.
Having trouble gripping the club because of the blisters on his hands, Scheffler considered withdrawing from the second playoff event but ultimately decided to tee it up, rallying after an opening-round 72 to tie for 12th.
“Stuff like that, I take a lot of pride in,” he said.
It certainly impressed some of his peers, too.
Gary Woodland shares a swing coach and trainer with Scheffler, and so he knew the weeklong battle to compete. Woodland and others actively avoided the training table on which Scheffler was working.
“That’s the stubbornness that Scottie has to fight through it last week and play,” Woodland said. “One of Randy Smith’s big deals is making sure our grip is the same every day. One of the things we can control is controlling the clubface and making sure our grip is the same. He’s got blisters on his hands and trying to grip the club. That just shows you how dang good he is to show up and finish 12th. It’s impressive.”
Woodland and Scheffler have grown close in recent years after Woodland reconnected with his longtime coach. Woodland has attended a couple of “training camps” in Dallas, where he spends three or four days working on his game and practicing with Scheffler. Well, more accurately, they play money games – $100 a hole, not including presses.
Si Woo Kim is also part of those matches, and he joked this week that he’s lost to Scheffler so many times that he’s “paying for his second son, all the diapers.”
Woodland confirmed that he, too, has served as a human ATM for the world No. 1. He admitted that he’s never beaten Scheffler at home, including just a few weeks ago, when Scheffler parred the last three holes to settle for a 60. Scheffler went on to win by eight shots.
“He’s hard to beat out here,” Woodland said. “He’s really hard to beat in Dallas.”
