Disaster struck for Scottie Scheffler before his final round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship when his long-time caddie Ted Scott had to return home due to a private family matter.
Brad Payne stepped in to caddie for Scheffler at the St. Jude Championship on Sunday, and it seemed very much like business as usual for the world number one.
However, Scheffler didn’t do enough to get the job done in the end, with his final round 67 only good enough to put him in a tie for third at the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
Scheffler admitted he is a big fan of TPC Southwind, and his game suited the golf course in Memphis perfectly.
The 29-year-old just didn’t hole enough putts during his final round, despite rolling his ball really well.
So was Payne filling in for Scott the difference between Scheffler winning and finishing in a tie for third?
Scottie Scheffler on how Brad Payne performed at the St. Jude Championship
Scheffler will be disappointed that he didn’t win in Memphis.
However, a T-3 is a very solid effort, especially with a stand-in caddie on the bag.
The world number one was asked how Payne performed on his bag on day four of the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
Scheffler responded: “He did good. Brad has stepped in before. He’s a great friend and he does a good job keeping me company out there.“
Payne did a fine job, and was in constant dialogue with Scheffler throughout the final round in Memphis.
That said, the man from Dallas, Texas, will be keen to get Scott back on the bag next week at Caves Valley.
Scottie Scheffler shares what went wrong for him on day four of the St. Jude
Scheffler suggested that he played really well on Sunday at TPC Southwind, aside from his tee shot on the 15th hole – one that eventually led to a bogey.
The world number one responded when asked to sum up his round.
He said: “Yeah, I felt like I did some good things out there. I felt like I hit a lot of good putts. Just hit a lot of lips. I did enough to have a really good round. Just putts weren’t falling today for some reason.
“Did a lot of good stuff, fought pretty hard most of the week. Like I said, today was a day where I executed really well, hit my lines on the greens, hit a lot of good shots going into the greens. Just ball wasn’t going in. Just a little bit off, I guess.“
“Yeah, poor tee shot there on 15, but then I hit some really good shots after that to give myself a look at par and hit a good putt there, just didn’t go in. I knew I was executing well, just needed to get it in the fairway on the next hole and try and make some birdies coming in.“
Scheffler wasn’t completely at his best at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, but he still finished inside the top three, and that tells us all we need to know about his talent.
It would take a brave man to bet against him winning at least one of the final two FedEx Cup Playoff events.
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