Livescore
A new season in any sport is ripe with optimism and enthusiasm, and that’s how PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan sounded when he delivered a year-end video message that promised innovation and excitement.
“Everything is on the table,” Monahan said just over a month ago.
Unfortunately, the table included ravioli at the home of golf’s best player. Scottie Scheffler confirmed that’s what he was preparing over Christmas when glass punctured the palm of his right hand and required him to have minor surgery.
Scheffler had to withdraw from the season opener at Kapalua and then The American Express last week in the California desert, and he won’t decide until later this week at the earliest if he’ll be at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
“I’m anxious to get back, excited to get back,” Scheffler said Monday. “But I’m also not going to rush back just to rush back.”
Give it time, hopefully not as much time as it took the final group Sunday in The American Express. The threesome took just short of 5 hours, 40 minutes, almost as long as it takes for three TGL matches (and about as competitive as TGL) thanks to great play from Sepp Straka.
Monahan spoke about preparing to “unleash a new season,” but it’s off to a slow start.
It helps that Hideki Matsuyama polished off his credentials when Japan’s biggest star won The Sentry at Kapalua by setting records for lowest score to par (35 under) and most birdies or better (35) in a 72-hole tournament. And that Nick Taylor revived a sleepy Sony Open by chipping in for eagle on the final hole and showing his Canadian clutch gene to win a playoff.
But the MVP has been MIA. And now joining Scheffler on the injured list is Xander Schauffele, the PGA and British Open champion and No. 2 player in the world.
“Medical” was the reason given for his withdrawal from The American Express, and no explanation was required for the San Diego native not playing this week at Torrey Pines for the first time in his career because he never entered.
Golf Channel reported he has a soft tissue injury in his rib. Schauffele said he had nothing to offer when the AP messaged him over the weekend.
Adding to his absence at Torrey — golf’s first week on network television (CBS) — is Collin Morikawa. The No. 5 player in the world had to withdraw with what his manager said were flu-like symptoms. The Wednesday start to avoid the NFL conference championships on Sunday probably didn’t help.
Rory McIlroy, meanwhile, made his debut last week in Dubai and spoke about playing less this year because “I’m not getting any younger.” He makes his U.S. debut next Monday in the TGL, and then he flies across the country to Pebble Beach.
TGL showed plenty of promise with its technology and fast-moving format, right up until it was time to keep score. The first two matches were blowouts, and the most memorable shots were Kevin Kisner blading a bunker shot off the pin and nearly taking out his teammates, and Tiger Woods hitting a wedge some 30 yards over the green on the monster simulator screen.
The shot clock has been a nice addition (could have used one at PGA West), though it leaves little time for more conversation even when the right characters (Schauffele, Shane Lowry) are playing. Television ratings for TGL have been around 1 million. Whether that can be sustained is the real measure. A close competition wouldn’t hurt.
Three weeks into the season and the Masters can’t get here soon enough. Scheffler and Schauffele surely will be back by then.
Scheffler looked fine during a zoom call Monday to preview the Arnold Palmer Invitational, which he won for the second straight time last year to launch an astonishing 2024 season of 10 wins if you count “The Match” in Las Vegas.
He said he had a hard time changing his infant son’s diapers with one hand. But he used the injured right hand out of habit during the call to tug on his shirt, scratch his left shoulder and stroke facial hair. Shaving lefthanded would appear to be a struggle, too.
Scheffler was coy, however, when talking about a recovery timeline, politely declining to mention when he began hitting golf balls. Time off is a strange sensation. Scheffler said he plays social golf during the offseason. He is never far away from the game.
But without the use of his right hand, he has delved into a rare activity for him — reflection. He found himself watching highlights of some of his tournaments.
“I typically have a pretty short memory with stuff,” Scheffler said. “So I went back while I was sitting around elevating my hand post-surgery. I watched some old shots, I watched some old tournaments, and I reflected a little bit, not much. And since I wasn’t able to play golf, I tried to almost train a little bit at home where I was reminding my brain of what I was feeling over certain shots and how my hands felt on the club and stuff like that.
“So I wasn’t totally checking out from golf, if that makes sense.”
It will make more sense when he’s swinging a club. Ditto for Schauffele. Maybe then the PGA Tour will really be able to unleash a new season.
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On The Fringe analyzes the biggest topics in golf during the season.
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
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