Scottie Scheffler endured an unusually difficult week at the BMW Championship, with his performance taking a back seat to an illness that affected him throughout the tournament.
Scheffler initially kept the details of his condition private. When approached for an interview Thursday, he simply declined, saying, “I’m sick.”
Scheffler opens up about illness
After finishing Sunday’s round with a 2-under 68, however, the world No. 1 explained that he had been dealing with hand, foot and mouth disease, an illness that can cause painful blisters.
“So to start the week it was pretty painful to grip the club,” he 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,” he explained.
Recovery is underway
Despite the illness, Scheffler continued to compete and showed signs of improvement as the week progressed. He also offered an encouraging update on his recovery.
“Feel like I’m starting to heal up. My throat is still bugging me pretty good. But my hands feel normal today," Scheffler mentioned.
Scheffler had little to lose
The 30-year-old entered the BMW Championship riding high after an eight-shot victory at the FedEx St. Jude Championship. He had also put himself in an excellent position heading into the final stretch of the PGA Tour season.
{{/usCountry}}The 30-year-old entered the BMW Championship riding high after an eight-shot victory at the FedEx St. Jude Championship. He had also put himself in an excellent position heading into the final stretch of the PGA Tour season.
{{/usCountry}}Looking back, though, Scheffler acknowledged that withdrawing may have been the wiser decision given that there was relatively little at stake for him.
He had already secured the No. 1 seed in the FedEx Cup standings through the BMW Championship, along with a $23 million bonus.
The seeding advantage also carries limited importance at next week’s Tour Championship, where the 30 qualifying players will compete at East Lake with the FedEx Cup ultimately going to the winner.
Why did he play with illness?
“I think that’s part of my stubbornness, probably. That’s probably a strength of mine and a weakness at times,” Scheffler said. “I’ve never been one to ever pull out of a tournament, especially in the middle of it. That’s really frustrating for me. But I’m proud of how I fought,” he added.
Scheffler had briefly moved into the top 10 after producing three consecutive birdies, but his momentum faded late in the round when he made a bogey from a fairway bunker. Overall, he managed to hit only 65% of his greens during the tournament.
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“I felt better as the week went on,” he said. “I got sick Monday night," the golfer revealed.
Scheffler also suggested that competing may have helped him cope with the illness in some ways, explaining, “Playing really good golf, and you come out of the heat and get a little adrenaline, sometimes your body kind of crashes. Then it hit me pretty good all week. ”
With inputs from AP report.