Scottie Scheffler had answered just about every question thrown his way in 2024. Would he putt well enough to start winning tournaments? Yes. Would he claim another major championship? Yes. Would he play and contend the week following his Masters triumph? Yes. Would he be able to balance his personal and professional life with a new child on the way? Yes.
This week at the 2024 PGA Championship, he was thrown two more. How will he compete after being arrested and released following a chaotic traffic incident ahead of Friday's second round? Will he be able to play as well Saturday with his usual caddie missing from his bag for 18 holes?
Scheffler answered the former in the affirmative, shaking off that arrest to post a 5-under 66 on Friday and shoot his way up the leaderboard. As for the latter? Well, it's a bit of his unknown.
Whether it was the change in caddie, built-up exhaustion from his chaotic Friday or (likely) a combination of the two, Scheffler finished Moving Day with a 74. Shooting 3 over, he ended a streak over which he scored par or better across 41 straight rounds dating back to Aug. 26, 2023.
"I was definitely not feeling like myself today, for sure," Scheffler told CBS's Amanda Balionis after the round. "Yesterday happened, and I did my best to recover from it, and come out here and compete today. I did a great job yesterday of coming out and competing, riding the adrenaline. This morning was definitely not my usual routine for a round, if that makes sense. … I wasn't able to get it done, which is pretty frustrating, but I'll come back and try again tomorrow."
Steve Stricker set the PGA Tour record at 55 rounds last year, surpassing Tiger Woods' achievement of 53 straight rounds earlier in his career.
Scheffler revealed Tuesday that his bag man since late 2021, Ted Scott, would not lug his sticks around the par 71 Valhalla Golf Club on Saturday as Scott would instead attend his daughter's high school graduation. Scott flew out of Louisville on Friday evening after the second round with a plan to celebrate his daughter's achievement Saturday before return at some point in the evening evening to resume his duties for the final round Sunday.
"That's something we talked about from the beginning of our relationship was family always comes first, and it's the same thing for me as it is for my caddie," Scheffler explained. "It was a pretty easy decision. He told me at the beginning of this year that was the date that it was, so I got a backup caddie lined up. One of my buddies is going to carry the bag on Saturday, and then Ted will be back for Sunday's round."
In Scott's place, Brad Payne assumed the role as Scheffler's right-hand man for the third round. Payne currently serves as a PGA Tour chaplain after having played collegiate golf at Pepperdine University.
"It's one of my older friends who travels week to week out here," Scheffler said. "He's the Tour chaplain. His name is Brad, and he's caddying for me on Saturday. I trust him to rake a bunker more than my buddies."
