[PHOTO: Warren Little]
Scottie Scheffler will have a temporary caddie, albeit briefly, come the weekend.
Speaking to the media at Valhalla ahead of the PGA Championship, Scheffler acknowledged that his regular looper, Ted Scott, will leave Louisville on Friday evening to attend the high-school graduation of his daughter.
Scheffler and Scott have been together since late 2021, after Scott and long-time partner Bubba Watson split. Scott has been on the bag for all of Scheffler’s 10 PGA Tour victories.
However, Scheffler said that when he and Scott joined forces, their devotion to family was a shared value, and Scheffler wants Scott to be there for his daughter’s celebration.
“It was a pretty easy decision,” Scheffler said. “He told me at the beginning of this year that that was the date that it was, so I got a back-up caddie lined up. One of my buddies is going to carry the bag on Saturday, and then Ted will be back for Sunday’s round.”
The buddy in question is Brad Payne, who’s a chaplain on the PGA Tour. “I trust him to rake a bunker more than my buddies,” Scheffler said.
PGA Championship 2024: Scottie Scheffler arrives to Valhalla after birth of son
Scheffler enters the PGA Championship as the tournament favourite, winning four of his past five starts. This run has included his second Masters title and becoming the first player to successfully defend the Players Championship. Scheffler missed last week’s Wells Fargo Championship and the CJ Cup Byron Nelson (played in his hometown of Dallas) due to the birth of his first child.
