Scottie Scheffler has found a great use for his famous 2012 GMC Yukon XL. He’s donating it to charity and it is up for auction. Current high bidder: Jim Nantz.
Scheffler has driven the same car his father, Scott, bought after the family’s car broke down more than a decade ago in Augusta, Georgia, at the 2012 Masters and they needed to get back home to Dallas. The Schefflers ended up buying a new car at Masters Buick GMC on Washington Road in Augusta, just down the street from Augusta National, where Scottie has since stamped his place in the game with not one but two Green Jackets. (“It’s got a Masters GMC logo on the back of it,” Scottie said of the car.)
Scott used the vehicle to take his son to junior tournaments on the Legends Junior Tour in Texas and to AJGA events. It was nicknamed GMC Airlines, and they drove it from coast to coast. His father gave Scottie the car when he graduated from the University of Texas, and he drove it to Monday qualifiers and during his one season on the Korn Ferry Tour before graduating to the big leagues. When Scheffler last talked about the car in 2022, he estimated it had 190,000 miles on it. Scott drove the entire family back to Augusta, including their dog Scout, for the 2022 Masters, the first time Scottie won the Masters.
“I drive like three places at home,” Scottie told reporters in 2022. “I go to the golf course, where I work out and a restaurant that’s usually within five minutes of the house.”
Despite topping the PGA Tour money list the last few years and being able to afford any wheels he’d like, Scottie kept driving his Yukon. “Why do I need to change it? It’s reliable,” he said.
But recently, he found a legitimate reason to change — he was given a new car to drive by a sponsor — and with the birth of son Bennett it was probably time for an upgrade. Safety first!
Scottie Scheffler pictured in his 2012 GMC Yukon XL after winning the 2022 Masters. (Courtesy TOKC)
But what to do with his Yukon, a vehicle that could tell a thousand golf stories? The world No. 1 and reigning Masters champ donated his famous wheels to Triumph Over Kid Cancer (TOKC), a non-profit that raises money for childhood cancer research. TOKC was co-founded by James Ragan, a childhood friend of Scottie’s who he competed against on the Texas Legends Junior Tour and later when James played at Rice, and his older sister, Mecklin. James was 13 when he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare and often fatal form of bone cancer, in 2006 and battled the disease for 7½ years. Scottie and James once won the Corpus Christi Country Club member-guest, and Mecklin noted that the members still joke about how Scottie is only the Masters champion to win the Corpus Christi member-guest.
Nantz recalled meeting James at MD Anderson Children’s Cancer Hospital during “Lunch with a Legend,” an event he hosted with Jack Nicklaus.
“He was a hero to so many of us,” said Nantz. “This kid was special. He could’ve been the President of the United States. He was super-smart, incredibly gifted and composed, kind, thoughtful and he had a great life to be lived that was taken away from him and he truly never felt sorry for himself.”
The Schefflers have been longtime supporters of TOKC, including serving as the honorary starter for TOKC’s annual James A. Ragan Triumph Scramble golf tournament in honor of his friend. He also formed his own program called “Scottie’s Heroes” to provide special golf clubs to young cancer patients. On Oct. 25, Scheffler and Nantz shared the stage for a fireside chat at the Post Oak Hotel in Houston as part of the Teeing Off on Childhood Cancer Gala to raise money for TOKC and fund research and patient initiatives at The University of Texas MD Anderson Children’s Cancer Hospital and Texas Children’s Hospital.
Trevor Immelman and Jim Nantz in the CBS booth at the 2023 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. (Richard Green/CBS)
When the auction began for Scheffler’s Yukon at the fundraising dinner, Nantz commented, “That’s quite a collector’s piece.” As the bidding jumped from $10,000 to more than $15,000, Scheffler was baffled as to why anyone would pay such a princely price for his old wheels. That’s about when Nantz raised his hand to enter the bidding war. The auctioneer assumed he was raising the bid to $18,000, the next minimum requirement. Nantz bumped the bid into another stratosphere.
“Fifty thousand,” he said. “I’ll be more than happy to store Scottie’s car in my garage.”
And that’s how Nantz became the high bidder for Scheffler’s wheels at the end of the live auction. But that figure simply represents the opening bid when the auction resumes online by Heritage Auction House. Check back for a link, so, you, too, can get in on the bidding.