Why did Scottie Scheffler slam his club during Round 1 of the 2024 FedEx St. Jude Championship?
Not known as an expressive man, the world No. 1 appeared to let his emotions get the better of him during the opening round at TPC Southwind on Thursday.
It’s been an up-and-down year for golf’s best player. Indeed, the American has gone from winning the Masters to getting arrested and then an Olympic gold medal, which is to say there have been many emotional highs and lows. Could it be that we’re seeing that come out for the first time?
What happened with Scottie Scheffler
On Thursday during Round 1 of the 2024 FedEx St. Jude Championship, Scottie Scheffler was not having his best moment. Standing at 4 under par, the 2024 Open Championship winner saw his tee shot on the 13th hole land in a bunker about 185 yards away from the pin. Then, on his second shot, Scheffler basically did the same thing, finding the sand trap to the right of the green.
The nail in the coffin, however, was his third shot, when he saw his golf ball land neatly on a spot 13 feet away from the hole. Now, while many others might not see that as such a bad thing, it was clear that Scheffler was most definitely not. Truly, that was made evident by the fact that as his ball made its way onto the green, the golf’s top-ranked player could be seen slamming his club into the sand in visible frustration.
In the end, Scheffler missed the par putt and tapped in for a bogey - it was to be his only bogey of the opening round. Regarding the overall outcome, the 28-year-old finished the day with 12 pars, five birdies, and that aforementioned bogey for a score of 4-under 66, which puts him in a seven-way tie for fifth place heading into the second round Friday. Fellow American Chris Kirk currently leads the field in Memphis, Tennessee after finishing the day with a six-under 64. As for Scheffler, he will pick things up again on Friday alongside Xander Schauffele when the pair tee off at 10:35 a.m. ET.