Category: Golf

Masters Champion Scottie Scheffler

On Sunday, professional golfer, Scottie Scheffler, won his first Major Championship at The Masters.

As a golf fan and a player, I was extremely impressed with his game, his maturity, and his execution under the pressure of leading a tournament of this magnitude.

Scheffler has publicly expressed his love for family, the meaning of his family to him, but more importantly, his love for God.

In a day and age when speaking so openly about one’s faith can cost anyone a way of making a living, it was refreshing to hear Scottie Scheffler talk about God as a driving force and a motivation to do what he does in and outside of the golf course.

In his press conference he praised his caddie, Ted Scott, who joined his team this year and has helped him win three tour tournaments and a Major in less than sixty days. Ted Scott is a man of faith and they have known each other through the PGA Tour bible study group.

Of Scott, Scheffler said, among many things, “He’s a man of faith and I love him,” “I mean the qualities you look for in a person, Ted embodies pretty much all of them.”

Throughout the press conference Scheffler was very candid about how he felt prior to the final round and how he cried the morning of because of the stress. He told his wife, “I do not think I am ready for this. I am not ready.” “I don’t feel like I am ready for this kind of stuff.” He said he just felt overwhelmed.

He went on to say, Meredith, his high school sweetheart and wife, told him, “Who are you to say that you are not ready?” “What we talked about is that God is in control and the Lord is leading me, and if today’s my time, then it’s my time, and I shot 82 today, somehow I was going to use it for His glory.”

He was asked if his faith played a significant part in his victory. Scheffler went on to say, “Yeah, I would say so. Like I said earlier, what Meredith told me this morning is that we are not in control of our lives, and so I spoke a little bit about what playing golf for me is like, and why I do it. I mean, my faith affects all aspects of my life, not just my life on the golf course, and so the Lord has given me a skill and I am trying to use it for His glory.”

Scottie Scheffler is everything that is right in this crazy world. Scheffler represents the good in all of us and the world could use a few more Scottie Scheffler’s.

Listening to Commissioner Jay Monahan in his press conference at TPC Sawgrass, it reminded me how much I love the game of golf, and how much I despise professional golf.

First off, addressing the war in Ukraine, Jay Monahan was just another parrot. Grandstanding and demonstrating, once more, the PGA Tour does not understand geopolitical nor internal or external political issues.

When asked about some of the sponsors who have chosen not to pull out from Russia, Monahan did the ‘Potomac Two-Step’ around the question. So much for caring about the Ukrainian people.

They did the same thing during the George Floyd riots by saving an honorary tee time for convicted felon George Floyd at the Charles Schwab Challenge, while ignoring the carnage caused to cities and businesses by those same rioters.

“Go Woke or Go Broke, that should be the PGA Tour motto.

During his press conference, Monahan was clear; the PGA Tour is all about money and revenue. I do not believe Monahan is sincere when he states the PGA Tour is about legacy and not leverage. Individuals establish legacies not organizations by themselves.

I think the PGA Tour position on the Saudi funded Super League is obtuse. This will be going to court, and I believe the PGA Tour will lose the case based on antitrust regulations. Competition and free market are part of business life, and the PGA Tour has no leg to stand on.

Players, as independent contractors, should have the right to play where they wish. Monahan gives the impression of strong-arming the players by telling them the PGA Tour or else, that is leverage. Sure, the players will not publicly talk about it, but I cannot believe independent contractors are fine with one individual telling them they cannot make money elsewhere.

What’s next? Is he going to tell players which sponsors are acceptable? Get real Jay!

The PGA Tour and the Saudi Super League can coexist, the problem is Jay Monahan and his greediness. Monahan wants the PGA Tour to be the only game in town and goes after any competition that can threaten his monopoly, or like he said, his “lunch money.” Frankly, in my opinion, it is disgusting.

In regard to Phil Mickelson, I think Monahan was a coward and did not address the questions with honesty. He stated the ball was in Mickelson’s court, well Jay, not if he has been suspended. Of course, Monahan refused to say if Mickleson was in fact under suspension. The secrecy of the PGA Tour mafia continues.

One thing is for sure, the Phil Mickleson saga opened my eyes as to the greedy nature of the PGA Tour and professional golf.

The PGA Tour has become a greedy and shameful institution.