The extraordinarily dreamy Scottie Scheffler taught us something about the US team
Scottie Scheffler looked downright scary on Thursday’s incredibly hot day at the Presidents Cup.
Ben Jared Getty Images
MONTREAL – Just after 3:00 p.m. Wednesday afternoon, US Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley looked out at the assembled crowd once again. it explodes.
“What I’ve learned about Scottie is how friendly he is, how quick he is to hang out with the new guy on the bus, how quick he is to crack a joke, [to] be a good teammate,” Bradley said. “I think that’s hard to do as the No. 1 player in the world.”
Shortly after 3 p.m Thursday In the afternoon, Scottie Scheffler looked at the assembled audience again he shouted.
“WHAT WAS THAT?!” He yelled at his playing partner for the day, PGA Tour good guy Tom Kim.
Most days, the men are two of the closest friends on the PGA Tour. However, on Thursday, Scheffler looked like he wasn’t going to lend his friend water in the middle of the desert. He stalked Kim on the 8th green, taking two aggressive steps before turning toward the hole, letting out another scream.
“HUH?!?”
This Scottie Scheffler version was, thankfully, terrifying. Sometimes hacking, taunting, and often angry, Scheffler looked like him Spiderman 3 version of the guy who managed to become the best golfer in the world behind a collection of laughs and scriptures. But the the majority The scary part of Scheffler’s game wasn’t the big (and not surprising) revelation that his competitive fire was burning, it was the revelation that his competitive fire could run. this it’s hot … and his game can go with it.
On a day when the rain didn’t come, Team USA’s new energy led to more rain for the Americans. Scheffler shot six under for 16 holes alongside teammate Russell Henley to beat Kim and Sungjae Im 3 and 2. It would have been a huge blow on the opening day of the Presidents Cup, if not for the team’s collective explosion: the US. he has the home team in session one of the holes 5-0. The Americans, entering the week as a heavy favorite, he looked as heavy favorites after Scheffler’s performance on Thursday. They left the course early in the morning after closing the door – and in the spirit of an early celebration of victory.
And with Scheffler on their team, who can blame them? Scheffler, who entered this week with a poor record in 2024 but faced questions about his struggles at the Presidents Cup in ’22 and the Ryder Cup in ’23, seemed like a quiet guy. anywhere angry questions. He sucked the life of international players every chance he got, not afraid to raise the temperature even more after Kim caught long birds and long celebrations on his face, or in general, looking like the best player the game has ever seen in this case. Tiger Woods.
“I think I had four or five birdies,” Kim said after her round, dejected. “That’s just what Scottie does.”
Scheffler, for his part, seemed unaffected by the sudden burst of competitive energy, or how his game responded to it.
“It’s the same thing I would have done at home if he had made the putt and we were playing against Wolf and he celebrated like that,” Scheffler said Thursday. “It’s fun to compete and it’s fun to represent our country, and at the end of the game you take off your hat and shake hands.”
He was silent for a while.
“We’re friends after that, not friends at the time, I guess.”
The good news for Team USA is that if Scheffler keeps playing like this, there won’t be much in time. Scheffler’s chippy lesson on Thursday at the Ryder Cup wasn’t the next stupid thing that came when Kim and Im were happy before the 8th box, or the fun between Jaws assistant captain Kevin Kisner and Camilo Villegas (“If you want to upset the No. 1 player in the world, good luck, ” said Kisner). The lesson was that the United States may finally have a piece that has been missing during golf’s Ryder and Presidents Cup following Woods’ last start at any event in 2019: superpower. And with a powerhouse like Scottie at the helm, the President’s Cup might not even have a contest at all.
“It’s very variable,” said Stewart Cink, America’s assistant captain, echoing Bradley’s words. “Tiger, you talk about someone else a lot terrible type personality in sports for a really long time at that, and Scottie is a really open, welcoming, kind person. It’s easy to be like him.”
In the end, the only irony about Scheffler’s tone Thursday at the Presidents Cup was that his teammate, Xander Schauffele, said it best.
“It looked to me,” Schauffele said, wearing a wide grin. “…as if they were poking a bear.”
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