‘Take the Handcuffs Off’: Scottie Scheffler Found in a Nelly Korda Comparison Through ATP Legend Jimmy Connor’s ‘Funny’ Admission

Nelly Korda has dominated the headlines in the golf world for a while now. Be it top-10 finishes or even her number of victories, not to mention her excellent skills, there’s one more golfer who has ruled the greens this season, albeit on a different circuit. Yes, it’s none other than Scottie Scheffler who has caught the attention of many, just like the LPGA Tour Pro. Even Jimmy Connors seems to agree.

The American Tennis Legend was spotted dishing out praise for the PGA Tour pro in his podcast, Advantage Connors, alongside his son Brett Connors. The new episode of the audio log, named ‘Alcaraz & Swiatek triumph in Paris, Roland Garros recap, Scheffler wins Memorial‘, saw the 71-year-old compare the current No. 1 on the OWGR with Korda, all the while comically alluding to his recent arrest.

Jimmy Connors is all praise for Scottie Scheffler and Nelly Korda

“It’s pretty amazing the year that he has had,” admitted an impressed Connors in his recent podcast about Scheffler right after he won the Memorial Tournament. He then drew a parallel between the 2024 Chevron Championship Winner and the 2024 Masters Champ while hinting at their recent victories: “I mean, you compare him with Nelly Korda on the women’s side. And, you know, the year that they both had—I mean, the Scottie, Scheffler just keeps on winning.” Out of the nine starts the LPGA Tour pro made in 2024, she managed to emerge victorious in six of them while finishing T7 in another.

Scheffler, meanwhile, made a total of 12 top-10 finishes out of the 13 starts he made, in which he won five of them. The 8-time Grand Slam winner then went ahead to put on his funny cap and mentioned, “You know, it’s funny how good he can play once you take the handcuffs off. It’s pretty amazing, you know.” He did so while hinting at the recent detainment by the Louisville Metro Police Department when he was arrested after trying to enter Valhalla even after the officer asked him to stop.

That’s not all. The 5-time Tennis US Open Champion couldn’t help but speak highly of Scottie Scheffler and his calm demeanor. “You know what I liked about him, Brett?” said Connors. “It’s that he just doesn’t seem to let anything bother him. If he makes a bogey or a double bogey, whenever I think he made a triple or so yesterday. Or double. Oh, he just goes on and comes back and makes a birdie on the next hole.” During the third round of the recently ended Memorial Tournament, the golfer went ahead to score a triple bogey-7 on the par-4, 9th hole. Soon after, he came and birdied the par-4, 10th hole before going ahead to shoot two more birdies on the 12th and the 15th.

It appears Connors was much impressed by the gameplay that Scheffler had displayed on the greens at Muirfield Village. The tennis legend had even gone ahead to comment on how the American male golfer can’t seem to miss his shots.

Connors is in awe of Scheffler’s shot-making

“If I was winning, if I’d win a tournament or two tournaments in a row, I wanted to keep going,” admitted the ATP veteran before adding how he would just ride the wave and confidence that he was in. Connors then went ahead to point out how it is the same for Scheffler before complimenting his gameplay: “Boy, does that seem to, you know, be his flow right now, too? I mean, he gets out there, and it seems like he can’t miss.”

The 27-year-old is currently leading the board when it comes to total strokes gained at 2.913, GIR% at 73.52%, and average at 1.666, among others. Moreover, he also managed to reach a point average of 16.4083, the first one to do so since Tiger Woods after the OWGR changed to a two-year rolling system.

Scheffler has thus managed to rake in admirers and supporters from all realms of the sport, all thanks to his immense determination and grit that he showcased on the greens. Will he be able to continue that at the U.S. Open? One can dearly hope!