Scottie Scheffler Injury Update: Needs More ‘Treatment’ Before R3 Starts, His Team Confirms

Scottie Scheffler will need more of that neck massage before round three at THE PLAYERS Championship. Golf Central tweeted, “@SBurkowskiGC [Steve Burkowski] reports on “Live From” that Scottie Scheffler’s team told him Scheffler woke up feeling better. He will have further treatment on his neck done at the course and proceed with his normal warm-up ahead of Rd. 3 of #THEPLAYERS.”

Scheffler was dealing with neck discomfort in the second round. The defending champion was resting on a lawn chair by the 14th tee as Marnus Marais massaged his neck. Analysts pointed out that Scheffler’s swing and footwork might have caused a sprain. Yesterday, Sean Martin of PGATour.com tweeted that the defending champion was asking for Biofreeze from the physio. Notably, that was the first time Scottie Scheffler complained of neck pain on the greens.

Speaking after the second round, the 27-year-old said, “Yeah, I hit a shot on my second hole today (the 11th) and I felt a little something in my neck, and then I tried to hit my tee shot on 12, and that’s when I could barely get the club back. So I got some treatment, maybe it loosened up a tiny bit, but most of the day I was pretty much laboring to get the club somehow away from me.”

The defending champion shot 3-under 69 on the cut day picking up five birdies and two bogeys. Scheffler continued to struggle with his neck through the second round. Yesterday, his clubhead speed on the 16th (116.7 MPH)  was around 4 MPH lower than the opening day (120.7 MPH). 

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Golfers can have mid-round treatment when the need arises. But the seven-time PGA Tour winner had to let go of that privilege as his group was given a slow-play warning on the 16th. For the rest of the day, Scheffler started on the back nine, the defending champion pushed through pain, even when thoughts of withdrawal crossed his mind. 

Will Scottie Scheffler pull out eventually? 

Yesterday, Scheffler was determined to finish the round even while grimacing and trying to adjust his swing to secure his neck. “The way I was getting around the course, the way my neck was feeling, I didn’t know if I was going to be able to continue playing,” Scheffler admitted on Friday. But, the 27-year-old stayed positive as he added, “I did what I could to kind of stay in the tournament today, and hopefully, it’ll loosen up and then I’ll be able to make somewhat normal swings tomorrow.”

Todd Lewis of Gold Channel, after a talk with Scheffler’s team, said that the seven-time PGA Tour winner felt better while leaving the course than how he was feeling mid-round. Scheffler is coming off a victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. No one has ever defended their title at THE PLAYERS Championship. Currently, Scottie Scheffler is six shots behind the second-round leader Wyndham Clark. The World No.1, paired with Corey Conners, is set to tee off at 2.10 PM EDT.

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