Sick caddie, little links experience, Scottie Scheffler still contending at The Open

TROON, Scotland – Ted Scott kneeled by the bag. He buried his head in his hands. And once, with the group still on the green, he trudged ahead to the next tee and plopped down on the turf.

No, it wasn’t the brutal conditions at Royal Troon that were making him sick.

Scott was dealing with a bout of food poisoning (or perhaps a stomach bug) that led to an eventful night and, at least for a little while Friday, some question as to whether he’d be able to carry the bag for the second round of The Open.

Tended to by the on-site doctors, Scott seemed to improve as the round progressed – and, coincidentally, so did his man.

Even with a soft bogey on the last, Scheffler sits in a tie for fourth, just five shots off the halfway lead at Troon.

“I feel like I’m in a decent position,” he said.

And Scheffler is starting to get used to it at The Open, just as he has been a consistent force in every other significant event. This is the third time in four career Open appearances that he’s been inside the top 10 after 36 holes, and even though he has managed just a single top-10 in those starts, that’s more an indication that it’s still too small of a sample size rather than a reflection of his course fit.

For a player of his age and pedigree, Scheffler, 28, is surprisingly inexperienced with links golf. With two older sisters, he never took a family trip as a kid to explore some of the world’s most famous courses. As a college and amateur standout, he never represented the U.S. on a visiting team in international competition. And he didn’t make his Open debut until three years after he turned pro.

It just might be the perfect style for his skill set.

As a runt growing up in Texas, Scheffler has always had a fascination with working the ball. He can remember bopping around his family’s home, curving super-spinny ping-pong balls from room to room and seeing how they’d react. At Royal Oaks, under the tutelage of longtime coach Randy Smith, Scheffler would bend shots both ways around a pole stuck in the driving-range grass.

“I didn’t want to turn into a robot,” he said. “I wanted to do what I thought was fun, and that was seeing and creating and trying to hit shots. I get bored sitting on the driving range trying to hit every shot straight. So sitting there learning how to curve it, learning how to hit shots, that’s more fun for me than it is just sitting there and working on club position.”

Scheffler’s artistry has been on full display at Troon during the first two days when the winds have gusted up to 30 mph and sent scores soaring. His consecutive rounds of 70 have put him firmly in the mix for his second major title of the year; Data Golf gave Scheffler the second-best chance to win, at 17%, despite being five shots behind Shane Lowry.

Why the love?

It’s not just Scheffler’s big-game experience. It’s not just the season-for-the-ages that he’s enjoying. No, it’s also a byproduct of the obvious skills he has flashed here; grouped with former Open champion Jordan Spieth and Cameron Young, who last year played in the final group with Brian Harman, it was Scheffler who appeared to be the most seasoned links player.

In his prime, Spieth was a preeminent iron player with the short game to bail him out whenever he flirted with disaster. But never did Spieth hit the ball with the power and precision of Scheffler, and the big man also possesses the deep arsenal of shots that makes him a threat to get up-and-down anytime, and from anywhere.

As for Young, there are few who can hammer a drive or long iron with his mighty lashes, and yet oftentimes on the greens he lacks the necessary conviction. Tired of squandering a dozen good birdie chances a round, Scheffler hired putting coach Phil Kenyon to neutralize what had been his chief weakness, while Young (here at Troon, and elsewhere) continues to be befuddled by the shortest club in his bag.

The chasm between Scheffler and the others was made clear Friday, as he relied on his smarts, shot-shaping and innate ability to score. He pounded fairway woods and mid-irons that pierced through heavy crosswinds. He used a deft touch from the deep pot bunkers, splashing his ball softly over the steep lips to keep the momentum of his round going. He expertly judged the distance and rollout on long pitch shots.

“To me, that’s kind of the fun part of the game, and out here it can be challenging,” he said. “It can be challenging at times to pick the appropriate shot just because the bounces can be unpredictable and stuff like that. But overall, it’s been a fun couple days and I’m looking forward to the weekend.”

It can’t be a welcome sight for even a past Open champion like Lowry to see Scheffler’s name this high up on the board. He admitted as much afterward.

“Honestly, I’m not sure Scottie Scheffler is too worried about anyone with the form he’s in,” Lowry said. “He’s obviously on the leaderboard, and he’s one person that people are going to be talking about.”

And for good reason.

Just like everything else this season, links golf is starting to come easily to him, too.