LOUISVILLE, Ky. — It was during the 82nd PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club a couple dozen years ago that Stuart Appleby was asked what he’d need to shoot to have a chance to win.
“Tiger Woods,” he replied.
Most of those competing at the 106th edition this week can relate to the sentiment, even if the name has changed. Scottie Scheffler’s intimidation factor isn’t grounded just in wins—four in his last five starts, missing a putt to force a playoff in the one he didn’t claim. Nor is it based on a performance ledger that boasts so many “1’s” you’d assume it’s written in binary code: 1st in Strokes Gained Total, 1st Off the Tee and in Approach, 1st Tee-to-Green and Greens in Regulation, in Birdie Average, in Scoring Average, in FedEx Cup points, in official money ($18,693,235 and counting). He’s probably 1st in the Father of the Year race too, despite having only entered 10 days ago with the birth of his first child, a son named Bennett.
Many athletes have been temporarily thrown for a loop by parenthood, willing to pay a fortune to stay home or have a decent night’s sleep. Scheffler played twice amid feverish speculation about whether he’d withdraw if his wife, Meredith, went into labor. He won both, including the Masters. The PGA Championship is his first start since Bennett arrived. He opened Thursday morning by holing his second shot for eagle on the first hole and went on to card a 67.
Strike fatherhood from the list of things rivals hoped could disrupt Scheffler’s perfectly calibrated life balance.
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What Bennett didn’t do, surely the Louisville Metro Police Department could. On Friday morning, a cop handcuffed Scheffler after an apparent misunderstanding at the entrance of Valhalla when he attempted to navigate around a traffic stop caused by an unrelated fatal accident. It was a surreal incident for a man who has probably been no closer to prison than watching Shawshank Redemption. For a time, it seemed certain to derail his bid for a single-season slam, either by a missed tee time or a rattled performance. Instead, he teed off shortly after arriving at the course, birdied his opening hole and shot 66.
Guys in the locker room can strike prison time from the list too, and when that doesn’t work you know there ain’t much left.
Saturday finally saw a chink in the armor. For the third round, Scheffler was without Ted Scott, the caddie who has been on the bag for…
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