World No.1 Scottie Scheffler was quick to play down the extent of his back injury after being seen in clear pain on the 17th hole of the first round of the BMW Championship in Colorado.
Scheffler shot a one-under round of 69 at Castle Pines despite dealing with his back problem, to sit five shots off leader Keegan Bradley in the second event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
The two-time Masters champion pulled up wincing and holding his back after hitting his second shot to the par-four 17th hole at Castle Pines, but was quick to write off his problems.
Scheffler insisted that his back was just “a little bit tight” after he “woke up just a little sore” and was just going to get some usual recovery treatment after his opening round.
“Really I woke up just a little sore this morning,” Scheffler said after his round. “I had trouble kind of loosening it up.
“Maybe I hit a few too many balls yesterday or something. It was just a little sore. I’m sure I’ll get some ice on it and stuff and I’ll be totally fine tomorrow.”
Scheffler did admit that it was tough to get through the long walk at Castle Pines while dealing with a sore back, while his reaction on 17 was due to him playing a certain type of shot.
“I mean, that was a hard,” he explained. “With it being a little bit tight it was hard for me to get through it and I was laboring most of the day to get through the ball.
“On 17 I was trying to hit a high draw, and that’s a shot where I’ve really got to use a big turn, big motion.
“Really just felt it a little bit. But other than that, all good.”
Xander Schauffele is Scottie Scheffler’s closest rival in the FedEx Cup
(Image credit: Getty Images)
While it’s hard to gage fully from Scheffler’s laid-back demeanour, it’s one to keep an eye on as he was not at his brilliant best in the first round – especially in the ball-striking department.
But it could even be bad news for the rest of the field, as the old saying of ‘beware the injured golfer’ is certainly true of Scheffler.
He also had a bout of stiffness at The Masters before winning a second Green Jacket, while he almost pulled out of The Players with a neck injury before shooting a final-round 64 to claim the title.
And those are factors Scheffler’s closest rival Xander Schauffele is all too aware of, as he only saw a few signs of the…
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