World’s number one golfer Scottie Scheffler prepares for the Tour Championship next week at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. Unlike Phil, he’s out of the loop with who will be his caddie. Ted Scott, usual caddie for Ted, was forced to withdraw from the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis. He had to leave before the last round due to a family emergency. This shocking twist of fate has opened up the question of whether we’ll see Ted Scott back for the Tour encore.
On the bag for that last round in Memphis was Brad Payne, fired up that he got to substitute for Ted Scott. Payne happens to be the president of the College Golf Fellowship. He caddied for Scheffler during the third round of the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla. Though he’s not Scheffler’s regular looper, he knows his way around the bag.
Scheffler said he is excited to have Payne help him through this transition phase. “He’s just going to try and fill in as best he can this week,” Scheffler stated. He admitted that getting used to a new caddie is always about finding that rhythm and knowing what the other guy likes. Perhaps much of it is simply more mundane. Hey, how did you like the counts? I’m like, “I killed the entire shot! But, what does that really mean? Just basic things like that that we were learning, you know, as a week progressed,” he continued.
Ted Scott has been an integral part of Scheffler’s success on the PGA Tour, having been on the bag for all 17 of Scheffler’s victories, including four major championships. Scheffler’s accomplished enough that it’s no surprise to see him at the BMW Championship, of the last 50 golfers in FedEx Cup points. He’s not convinced that Ted Scott would be there for the Tour Championship. “Ted’s exactly where he needs to be right now,” Scheffler said.
From here, former Stanford coach Michael Cromie will join Scheffler’s bag for the BMW Championship. Cromie shares a similar bond with Chris Kirk. Kirk’s strong finish in points came just a week after he narrowly missed the top 50 in points following the FedEx St. Jude Championship. Scheffler has on other occasions expressed his admiration for Cromie, calling him a “great guy.”
Leave a Reply