Scottie Scheffler shares how bad his injury really was during his 2024 Players Championship win

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Scottie Scheffler headlines the field for the 2025 Players Championship, having won the tournament in 2023 and 2024.

PGA Tour and PIF talks are progressing ahead of the Players Championship, but the men involved in the event will simply be focused on playing their best golf.

The Players has been labelled the fifth major, with the iconic TPC Sawgrass once again the venue for the latest edition.

Scheffler joins the likes of Tiger Woods and Davis Love III as two-time Players Championship winners, but Jack Nicklaus is out ahead with his three titles.

World number one Scheffler will have stars such as Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele to compete with this time around, with his fellow American having finished T2 in 2024.

How Scottie Scheffler battled neck injury in 2024 Players Championship win

The Players Championship represented one of seven PGA Tour titles for the world’s best golfer last year, with Scheffler now looking back on his success at TPC Sawgrass ahead of another title defence.

“It was pretty special to win back-to-back titles at the Players Championship,” Scheffler wrote for the PGA Tour website.

“That’s something you never really get the opportunity to do very often. It’s tough enough to win one Players, and I was thankful to become the first player to repeat as champion in our flagship event.

READ MORE: He set the course record at TPC Sawgrass but still lost the Players Championship by eight shots in the same year

“I remember putting up a good fight for four days. My caddie Ted Scott was instrumental in the win as he kept me in a good headspace the whole week as I was battling a neck injury which flared up during the second round.

“It became quite painful especially when I was putting, but I’m a pretty competitive guy, and I didn’t want to give up in the tournament.

“I did what I could to hang around until my neck got better which it did by the weekend due to some great work by my physio.”

Scottie Scheffler recalls 20-under winning score at TPC Sawgrass despite injury

Scheffler was not only tested by his injury at TPC Sawgrass this time last year, but also by a very strong field.

But it was indeed his determination that saw him fight back to lift the trophy, having been T6 through rounds one to three.

After shooting rounds of 67, 69 and 68, he finished with a superb final round 68 to end on 20-under, one ahead of Schauffele, Wyndham Clark and Brian Harman.

READ MORE: He was the last player to shoot his age on the PGA Tour and now has his own tournament named after him

Further analysing the triumph, he continued: “When you get an acute injury like that, if you can wake up the next day feeling a little bit better or the exact same, it’s a win.

“Usually, the morning after is worse and when I woke up on Saturday, it felt a little bit better and I was able to hit some shots, and then on Sunday, I woke up feeling fairly close to normal and went out there and had a good round of golf.

“I headed into the final round with the intention to get off to a good start on the front nine. I felt like if I could shoot a low front nine to put myself back into the tournament, that was really my goal.

“I was aiming for some early birdies, and I parred the first three holes, and then the hole-out for eagle on number four really got me going.

“On the back nine, I remember hitting a lot of good shots and made some nice putts to close out my round.

“It was really fun to be able to secure the win with a closing 64 and I think that’s why we put in all the work to be able to finish off tournaments and to play well at the right time. It’s nice coming out on top for sure and it’s a great feeling.”