Scottie Scheffler gets sassy, Theegalas celebrate.
Sahith Theegala, PGA Tour, Getty Images
Hello, friends, and welcome to this week’s edition of the Rogers Report! Although I’m sad that the PGA Tour qualifiers have come to an end, I’m looking forward to attending my first Solheim Cup next week at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Virginia. I’ll be going there with my colleague and friend, Zephyr Melton, so watch out for some exciting content from that.
Speaking of team events, the Presidents Cup teams were named on Tuesday, and I feel very excited about both teams.
Other things to note: This is Adam Scott’s 11th international appearance. Thankfully, Instagram now allows you to share more than 10 photos in a single post, otherwise we would have missed Scott’s amazing memory lane.
Her hair in 2009 and 2011 was a thing. On the other hand, this will be the first Ryder Cup or President Cup without Jordan Spieth or Justin Thomas since 2012, when they were only 19 years old. I will miss watching them in Montreal, but I will miss you indeed remembers Jordan Spieth singing a song he wrote about Si Woo Kim during press conferences.
Look at that group. JT and Spieth, as well as Patrick Reed, Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson. The good old days!
OK, until the final week of golf.
The big church of Theegalas
Sahith Theegala got a lot of attention at the Tour Championship for claiming a penalty, but that wasn’t my favorite thing I saw from the 26-year-old at East Lake.
My love for Theegala family, especially Sahith’s father, Murli, started when I watched the first season of “Full Swing” on Netflix. It has grown since then, mainly because the Theegala team has always shown full support for their boy. Things were no different last week, when Sahith’s fans turned up wearing custom t-shirts carrying a banner to celebrate his 100th start on the PGA Tour.
Not that 100 starts is “small,” but it’s great to see Theegalas celebrate all the milestones that come with being a PGA Tour player, not just the wins. They all support me. I feel like Team Theegala would come and cheer me on if I told them I was going to try to parallel-park in Boston. All things are worth celebrating!
What made Theegala’s 100th start even more exciting was that his brother, Sahan, missed his first day of classes at Seton Hall to watch his big brother do it.
I’m sure his professors understand.
The big family week continued into the weekend for the Theegalas when Murli turned 60. You know you’re a big deal when you get a birthday shoutout on the PGA Tour. In my opinion, those usually end up being big winners.
Sahith Theegala
There’s nothing better than some fun decorations and a cake, except maybe a Louis Vuitton (I’m embarrassed to admit I had to look up the spelling of that) bag. Fortunately, Murli got both.
Shout out to Theegala’s girlfriend, Juju Chan, for always giving a behind-the-scenes look at the life of the tour on TikTok!
Sassy Scottie Scheffler
Next up, we have Scottie Scheffler’s sass, but before I get into that, I’ll take a moment to highlight how great the World No. 1’s family is. 1. Unfortunately, Bennett may not have gotten the memo that his father received $25 million shortly before they met at East Lake; otherwise he probably wouldn’t have cried.
Fortunately he recovered quickly and was able to make the best shot in PGA Tour history soon after.
Bennett Scheffler saw (or at least was there when) his father won the Memorial, the Travelers, the Olympic gold medal and the Tour Championship. He already has three pages of his photos on Getty Images, so I just know that the Scheffler family’s 2024 Christmas card will put all other Dallas residents to shame come December.
Finally, we’ve moved on to Scheffler’s press conference, where he gave a nice answer to a question about the shank he hit in the bunker Sunday at East Lake. He responded verbatim, which was old and sweet.
That’s right, Scheffler! His response reminded me of the 2016 NCAA tournament where Baylor Taurean Prince gave a similarly literal response to how Yale outclassed his team.
Amazing stuff. The best conferences are the ones where you get unexpected answers.
A final note on Scheffler: I saw this Tweet that said he only wore pants as a junior golfer because he always wanted to be a champion.
I have seen similar stories about other professional golfers, including Patrick Reed. This is a very sweet fact if it all works, but I’m asking all the junior golfers out there to just wear shorts. You’re more likely to get heatstroke during the summer in Florida because you’re wearing khakis than you are to become a professional golfer. Also, LIV allows shorts, so even if you become a champion, you might be able to wear shorts anyway.
My favorite math
Average score this! Stokes got that! We hear a lot about a few stats on PGA Tour broadcasts every week, but CBS’ Rick Gehman compiles a very detailed list of the 79 pros who led the PGA Tour in at least one statistical category this season.
This shows how deep the talent is on the Tour. It’s like the opposite of a participation trophy that kids get in little league.
Professionals go to the Curtis Cup
Justin Rose and Charley Hull went to Sunningdale Golf Club last week to meet the Curtis Cup teams, meet fans and watch some golf.
Charlie Hull
I believe this is where children can say, “The game respects the game.” It’s great fun watching professional golfers attend other sporting events — whether it’s a completely different game or another golf tournament. I hope to see some familiar faces without strings at the Solheim Cup next week.
FM Global Championship
I spent a day at the FM Global Championship last week and I want to highlight the best thing I saw (besides a lot of insanely beautiful golf photos): A free course for everyone and everyone there. I watched a number of young children, teenagers and adults head to the end of the course at TPC Boston and learn the basics of the golf swing while I took a break from looking good. A course station was set up at the bottom right of the range – the same width that the world’s best players used to warm up. How cool is that?
I attended professional golf tournaments as a kid, but I never experienced anything like this. I hope this trend will continue in future events.
