Scottie Scheffler, who won the PGA Tour’s FedEx St. Jude Championship last week by a whopping eight strokes, says he played this week while dealing with hand, foot and mouth disease.
Scheffler’s revelation came Sunday, after he played four days at the BMW Championship at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis. The world’s top-ranked player said he developed blisters on his hands and feet and in his throat, and that he considered withdrawing from the tournament.
“So to start the week, it was pretty painful to grip the club,” Scheffler said. “If I was smarter, maybe I would have pulled out, but I was playing so good I felt like if I could knock it out quickly and just get through the first couple rounds I would still have a chance.
“But I think that’s part of my stubbornness, probably. That’s probably a strength of mine and a weakness at times. Like, I’ve never been one to ever pull out of a tournament, especially in the middle of it. That’s really frustrating for me. So I definitely didn’t want to do that going into this week, even though it was suggested.”
He said it didn’t hurt to walk.
“Once you get on the course, you get the adrenaline and everything, I started to feel better,” Scheffler said. “But the blisters on the hands was probably the most challenging, just because it was painful to grip the club to start the week. I was prioritizing rest so I wasn’t able to work out the way I want to, and practice the way I want to, and even warm-up for rounds the way I want to.
“I really just did my best to try and battle and it maybe was a poor decision playing, but I’ve never been one to try and quit.”
Notably, Scheffler’s two-over 72 during Thursday’s first round bettered only three players in the 50-man field, and from there, he played nine-under golf and tied for 12th. In his session with reporters on Sunday, Scheffler said he was starting to feel better, but also described a potentially awkward moment with Cameron Young, his final-round playing partner.
“I actually almost caught myself shaking hands with Cam on 18,” Scheffler said.
“I would have felt really bad. I was like, Oh, my gosh, I almost forgot. So that’s good news, starting to feel better. Hopefully the throat will clear up the next couple days.”
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