[PHOTO: Stacy Revere]
Scottie Scheffler has made plenty of news since his victory in the Open Championship at Royal Portrush nearly three weeks ago. And that’s while cooling his heels at home in Dallas.
Scheffler earned $US18 million earlier this week without hitting a shot by finishing atop the regular-season FedEx Cup standings, and he also garnered some favourable reviews for his appearance in the film “Happy Gilmore 2″, which had the biggest three-day opening for a film in Netflix history.
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Of course, the Texan’s real starring role is his place in competitive golf, in which he is the top-ranked golfer and owns four PGA Tour victories this year, including the PGA and Open championships to give him three legs of the career Grand Slam.
So, go ahead and ask him about “Happy Gilmore 2”, and he’ll sheepishly talk about the experience. The highlights:
Yes, it was a lot of fun.
Adam Sandler was “a treat to work with”.
Yes, the film had lot of good one-liners.
No, he can’t think of any that he had. “Not really,” he shrugged.
Family and friends, he said, “liked it.” And about those arrest and jailhouse scenes… “I think they thought the one scene where I was really involved was pretty funny. I don’t know if I’m supposed to say anything about the plot, but there’s one scene that brings up some of my past stuff, which was pretty fun.” Spoiler alert for those few in the golf world who haven’t seen it: it involves handcuffs.
“I think it’s kind of weird seeing yourself… we’re sitting there at the premiere, and anytime I came up on screen, it’s just a weird feeling and something that I’m definitely not used to,” Scheffler said. “But like I said, we had a ton of fun filming it. It seems like the reception from the public has been really good.”
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The real highlight for the unassuming Scheffler after leaving Portrush in Northern Ireland involved his son, Bennett, who was a star in the aftermath of The Open and remained a popular figure at Scheffler’s home course, Royal Oaks.
Scheffler said he attended a party in which friends drank out of the claret jug, which now occupies a place beside the Wanamaker Trophy and two Masters trophies. He also took the jug to Royal Oaks a few times. Then he visited the club with his favourite and most precious trophy, his son.
“One afternoon, I think Meredith was getting a haircut or something, and I was resting and so I had Bennett, and I took him to Royal Oaks,” Scheffler said. “He whacked some golf balls around, and we hung out for a bit. I took him to the 19th Hole with me, and I got some pretty funny pictures with Bennett sitting in the 19th Hole at the men’s-only grill where you’ve got to be… I think you’ve got to be 19 to get in there, but I figured if we bring in a couple of major-championship trophies with us, they’ll let the rules slide on that one.”
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The defending FedEx Cup champion, Scheffler, after a slow start as he recovered from a hand injury suffered last December, is on a run of 13 straight top-10 finishes and appears as formidable as ever. He is rested and ready in his quest to become the first player to win the season-long title in consecutive years. It’s the rest, he said, that was most important.
“I would say my prep week last week definitely looked a bit different than it would have looked before the Scottish Open and definitely looked a little bit different than it would have looked if you go back to the beginning of the year when I was coming off injury,” Scheffler said. “My game is in a good spot, and I feel like some extra practice at this point in the year can almost be detrimental in terms of just physical and mental fatigue… showing up like you’re ready to play.”
He’s ready.
