Scottie Scheffler battled hard to shoot 3-under 67 on Friday in Canada. The world No. 1 and reigning Masters champion is doing so with Jordan Guilford as his caddie this week at the RBC Canadian Open.
Asked in an interview after the round if his regular bagman Ted Scott would be back in action next week at the U.S. Open, Scheffler was quick to say, “Yeah. He’s OK. He’s all right.”
Scott, the veteran looper who was on Scheffler’s bag for his third green jacket winner, is doing better than all right and there’s a good reason why he isn’t north of the border – he’s competing in the Korn Ferry Tour’s BMW Charity Pro-Am in Greenville, South Carolina this week.
Scott, a former mini-tour pro and golf coach, describes his game as “the leader in other fairways hit” in his Twitter profile. He enjoyed some time behind the wheel on a race track ahead of the tournament and is listed as a “celebrity” amateur in the field.
Scott has been a caddie for 21 years, primarily with Bubba Watson, including for his wins at the 2012 and 2014 Masters. They split late last year and Scott joined Scheffler after the Ryder Cup at the RSM Classic. Scheffler, who was winless on the PGA Tour until February, has won four times in his last 10 starts.
Scheffler’s substitute caddie has worked for Andrew Putnam and Beau Hossler in the past, and Scheffler used him at two fall events before hooking up with Scott. Scheffler made it clear it’s a one-week gig.
For Scott, he’s soaking up the experience including having a caddie at his disposal.
“We were picking on him on the last hole,” Scott told PGATour.com, “because I said to him, ‘Hey, this is the one chance I have to get to have somebody get the pin out.’ He’s over there just hanging out with my buddy. ‘Like, dude, come over and get the pin out. I don’t want to touch this thing.’ ”