‘First Jail, Now Throwing Tantrums?’: Scottie Scheffler Upsets Golf World With Hot-Tempered Actions at Pinehurst

The Scottie Scheffler of early 2024 seems to be back on the greens. And fans don’t like that one bit. Scheffler was standing 16 feet away from a par save on the 15th at Pinehurst No. 2. The 27-year-old, after going 1-over in the first round, needed a few circles on his scorecard to move back into contention. After saving par for the first five holes on the back nine, his par putt missed the pin by a few inches thanks to a brutal break near the cup. 

Scheffler tossed his putter in frustration. In his defense, though, the par-3 15th has played as the 5th hardest hole this week. The bogeys (48) outnumber birdies (10), with the opening round scoring average standing at 3.260. But Scheffler’s putting average of 1.94 is below the field average of 1.86, which ranks him outside the top 100 in the field. Compared to the field, the Texas resident has bled 1.18 strokes while putting. 

The Pinehurst tantrum was reminiscent of his struggles a few months ago, which now seem like a distant memory. Scheffler’s woeful putting, which many pundits attributed to his wrong reading, stopped him from breaking into the winner’s circle. The 27-year-old, besides throwing the putter, once almost stamped it on his own foot and also threw the ball at the native area during the Genesis Invitational. 

Scottie Scheffler, however, erased that in a jiffy with a mallet putter in hand. He secured five titles in his last eight starts. Scheffler is coming off a victory at the Memorial. Interestingly, at Memorial, too, the two-time major winner almost blew away his four-shot lead in the final round. Before that in Colonial, the 11-time PGA Tour winner tossed his putter, saying, “Screw these greens, man.” His putt then also took a left turn like it did this Friday.

Fans, though, believe he should have kept his composure at Pinehurst No. 2. Scottie Scheffler, because of his gentle nature and profound answers at pressers, has become a role model for the youngsters. And netizens believe his on-course tantrums are unbecoming of his stature. 

Fans refuse to cut Scottie Scheffler any slack

The verdict of social media went against the current world no. 1. Although LMPD dropped the charges against the reigning Masters champion, fans are yet to forgive Scottie Scheffler. A large section of netizens felt that Scheffler was slowly slipping away from being the role model that he was. 

Nevertheless, another concurred. “Have some class. LMPD was right to book that thug.” While a third called it a “disgrace.” Another fan comparing him with Tyrrell Hatton, who is notorious for his on-course outbursts, tweeted, “This is a very Tyrell Hatton-esque thing to do. This is beneath you, Scottie.”

One user expressed their disappointment, “First jail, now throwing tantrums? are we sure scottie is a good role model? i miss the days when our youth idolized #tiger  [Tiger Woods] for all his flaws, always pure class on the links.” Notably, the 15-time major champion had to deal with a barrage of criticism for uttering profanities and tantrums on the greens. 

Some fans wanted to remind Scheffler that the putter can actually damage the greens, which will make the already punishing greens at Pinehurst No. 2 harder to play. One of them wrote, “Can’t throw your club man come on. Could damage the green for others.” 

Scottie Scheffler completed the turn at 2-over 37. Compounding his frustration, both Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele are at the top of the leaderboard. Both have made a few birdies to hold onto their opening-round grind.