Scottie Scheffler appears to tweak back at BMW Championship, says he’s ‘fine’ after first-round 71

By

[PHOTO: Christian Petersen]

After his second shot into the par-5 17th green at Castle Pines in the first round of the BMW Championship, Scottie Scheffler immediately grabbed his lower back, then bent over and appeared to be in pain.

Scheffler has dealt with some injury issues this season, most notably at the Players Championship, though those issues were with his neck. While in contention early in the week at TPC Sawgrass, the world No.1 was seen on numerous holes receiving medical treatment, which is allowed.

The two-time Masters winner has reportedly dealt with back issues in the past, however. In 2022, his long-time coach, Randy Smith, told the Dallas Morning News that his student had a large abscess on the base of his tailbone that almost caused him to withdraw from the 2022 Open Championship at St Andrews after a third-round that put him in a tie for fifth heading into the final round. Scheffler had the abscess drained before the final round, when he shot a two-over 74 to tie for 21st.

This year, it’s been the neck, not the back, that has occasionally bothered him. But the video above would appear to indicate he had some sort of pain in his lower back area. After a one-under 71, Scheffler said everything is OK, but did admit to experiencing some soreness after he woke up in the morning.

“Oh, yeah, it’s fine,” Scheffler said when asked if his back was OK. “Really, I woke up just a little sore this morning. I had trouble kind of loosening it up. I mean, that was a hard – with it being a little bit tight it was hard for me to get through it and I was labouring most of the day to get through the ball. On 17, I was trying to hit a high draw, and that’s a shot where I’ve really got to use a big turn, big motion.

“Really just felt it a little bit. But other than that, all good.”

Scheffler was also asked if this was an issue last week in Memphis.

“No. Maybe I hit a few too many balls yesterday or something,” he said. “It was just a little sore. I’m sure I’ll get some ice on it and stuff and I’ll be totally fine tomorrow.”

Scheffler will have some extra time to loosen up for his second round. He tees off at 11:20am local time alongside Xander Schauffele, the only player who could potentially catch him in the FedEx Cup standings with a victory this week in Colorado.