The ‘interesting’ part of Scottie Scheffler’s statement about missing The American Express which may raise concerns

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Golf fans looking forward to Scottie Scheffler’s first event of 2025 will have to wait a little longer, with the world number one confirming this week that he will not playing in The American Express.

Remarkably, Scottie Scheffler has now gone an entire month without winning an event – unless you include The Showdown. Of course, he has only missed one PGA Tour event in that time, with the 28-year-old forced out of The Sentry after injuring his hand on Christmas Day.

Scheffler had to undergo surgery after the accident at home. And unfortunately, Scheffler will also now miss The American Express after confirming that he is not ready to return. Instead, he hopes to be back for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

Obviously, it is not entirely surprising to see the timeline change given where the injury is. Scheffler can probably barely practice if one of his hands is out of action.

One concern as Scottie Scheffler withdraws from The American Express

It seems unlikely that Scheffler would set another return date if he was not confident of being fine for Pebble Beach. But perhaps it is not a foregone conclusion just yet.

Speaking on The First Cut Podcast, Greg DuCharme noted that Scheffler’s decision to miss The American Express does not appear to have been his own, and thus, there could still be just a little doubt over his involvement at Pebble Beach.

“Ultimately, I don’t think this is a huge loss. He’s essentially missed two weeks of the season; probably two of the events that are the most difficult for him to win, because they’re such birdie-fests. I don’t think he would’ve beaten Hideki last week. And The American Express is often an event where you see Scottie, it might be the worst finish of his season with a tied 11th or something like that. So I don’t think it’s a bad thing,” he said.

“The one interesting thing I’ll say that could raise some concerns is that he consulted with his medical team to make this decision, which essentially means that he’s not cleared. If it was Randy Smith or ‘my team’, referring to his golf team, that would be a different thing.”

How Scheffler has performed at The American Express over his career

Scheffler’s record at The American Express would look very respectable – if he wasn’t Scottie Scheffler. Over the years, he has finished in the top 25 on four occasions, with his best result being a third place finish back in 2020.

However, that remains his only top 10 at the event. Meanwhile, he missed the cut in 2021. So there may have been a feeling somewhere in his mind that he has a little point to prove having won on so many of the courses he regularly plays.

Clearly, that does not mean that he should have played through the pain to play at the event. But he may well be slightly frustrated that he has to wait another year for another shot at finally winning.