Scottie Scheffler vented his anger towards his caddie after a frustrating opening round at The Memorial Tournament.
The world No 1 found the water on the 16th hole at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, with his shot landing on the green at first before a hard bounce took it into the hazard.
And Scheffler was left upset by the outcome and took exception with his long-time caddie Tedd Scott, stating: “I never thought that I was in the water. I don’t know what to do. I can’t hear a word you’re saying.
“I feel like that was a good shot. Now I’m in the water. Because it came in out of the right. Absolutely flushed a 7-iron and we get the wind wrong, and I end up in the water. I don’t think you understand how frustrating that is. I thought it was a good shot. It really was. … Golly.”
“I liked that shot,” Scheffler continued at the drop zone. “I don’t understand what I’m meant to do. I don’t understand. I really don’t. I mean, it was five yards short of the green, flushed 7-iron, because it’s into off the right. Like there’s no way it could curve that much. … It’s so frustrating. … I’m hitting good shots and dropping. We cannot get the wind wrong.”
Scheffler’s disappointing one-over-par first-round performance leaves him six shots behind early front-runner Wyndham Clark, JJ Spaun, Tommy Fleetwood and Ryan Gerard at -5.
“Absolutely flushed a seven iron, and we get the wind wrong, and now I’m in the water. I don’t think you understand how frustrating that is,” he added.
Scheffler admitted he “could not get the wind right.”
And fans appeared to side with Scott over the argument, with one underlining how it had become “harder” to watch Scheffler “from an attitude perspective” and that he has appeared angry on the course in recent months.
Others called Scheffler a “crybaby” for his reaction, with some urging him to “own it” after hitting the shot.
“If I was the Caddy I’d drop the bag and walk off the course,” said another fan in support of Scott, with Scheffler also labelled as “entitled” and “ insufferable” by two more fans.
The reaction appeared to divide golf fans though, with one labelling the incident “a nothing burger”.
Scott remained calm and opted against firing back at Scheffler, who reflected on his first round afterwards.
The American said: “That’s just another really good iron shot, and the wind switched from down off the right to pretty significantly in off the right. If it’s down off the right, that ball’s probably where I hit my wedge shot to. So just don’t really know what I’m supposed to do there outside of trying to hit a good shot, and then it’s frustrating when it doesn’t work out, especially when it doesn’t work out in that direction.
“I would rather get gusted in off the left, not in off the right there. All you can do is just try to hit good shots. It can be very frustrating sometimes when you feel like you’re hitting good shots and then you’re going to the drop zone.”
